Rochdale defender Rory McArdle will miss the start of the season due to injury.
Dale defender facing spell on sidelines
Rochdale defender Rory McArdle will miss the start of the season due to injury.
McArdle dislocated his shoulder in a pre-season friendly against Radcliffe in midweek.
The 22-year-old faces up to two months on the sidelines and Rochdale boss Keith Hill admitted it was a major blow to lose the defender.
"The news on Rory McArdle is particularly bad - he's going to be out for between eight and 12 weeks," Hill told the Rochdale Observer.
"What was already a thin squad becomes even thinner, but it does provide an opportunity for the likes of Craig Dawson, Marcus Holness and even Chris Brown, from our youth team, to impress.
"It's a massive blow and leaves us with just 16 outfield players.
"We do not have the finances to replace a player of Rory's calibre and I suppose the only positive to take from this is the fact we have four games in which to experiment and find the right defensive pairing to start against Port Vale."
