Rochdale manager Brian Barry-Murphy said his side got just what they deserved in their 1-0 defeat at Fleetwood

Sky Bet League One’s bottom side remain deep in relegation trouble after Eoghan O’Connell’s own goal handed the Cod Army victory at Highbury.

And the Dale boss hopes his side can bounce back when they host Swindon on Tuesday night.

“I’m really disappointed” he said. “In terms of our play over the past couple of weeks, I think we’ve put in some really good performances, but we didn’t show up today, we didn’t play well and I don’t think we deserved anything from the game.

“I think people are sick of me saying how well we’ve played when we haven’t got a result, but today I think we didn’t keep the ball well, we were far too direct and any problems we had in the game today were of our own doing.

“I’m disappointed in myself because we obviously haven’t got the players in the right condition to perform.

“If you play as we did today, and I include myself in that, you leave yourself open to something like the own goal happening. We didn’t have enough moments at the other end and we created little.

“We had just fleeting moments but not enough for us to say we were hard done to. We weren’t – we got what we deserved.

“Picking the lads up is easy, we’re good at bouncing back. We’ve had a lot of difficult times. At the moment it feels very disappointing but we can bounce back really quickly.”

Though his team are unlikely to stage a late push for the play-offs, Fleetwood boss Simon Grayson was delighted by his players’ efforts in edging out a visiting Dale side scrapping for survival.

And he clearly rates substance over style as the league season’s run-in looms.

“I thought today it was a game where we had to be on it,” said a relieved Grayson. “It was difficult because the pitch was really lively and it wasn’t easy to pass the ball around, but ultimately we defended well, (goalkeeper) Alex Cairns has hardly had a save to make.

“It shows you that if you keep clean sheets and you get goals at the other end you give yourself a great chance of winning games.

“Of course we can play better with the ball, but at this stage of the season it’s about results. And the pitches are not great and that can affect you sometimes.

“You have to have the right balance, we want to make sure we’re hard to play against when we’re out of possession. The players put their bodies on the line and all credit to them, Callum Connolly is in there with a broken nose and it’s nice to see!

“As a defender you take great satisfaction in keeping clean sheets. It’s fantastic for the players and it allows you to take a chance when it does come your way.”