Rochdale were handed a first defeat in 12 home league games last weekend as Oxford United romped to a 4-0 victory.

The loss will give Huddersfield Town a boost as David Wagner's side travel to the Crown Oil Arena on Saturday to take on the Dale in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Rochdale have now been beaten twice in a row having lost just one of their eight matches prior.

And manager Keith Hill was disappointed in his team's performance, with their heaviest defeat of the season capping off a poor week for the Greater Manchester side.

“It hasn’t been a great week, if I’m being perfectly honest with you," Hill told the club's official website.

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"We had picked a totally different side yesterday, so coming into the game was very difficult.

“We had two injuries yesterday and both players were playing.

“I understand the no cohesion to the way that we played but you’re hoping after 20-25 minutes that the players grow into the game pattern.

“A lot of those players haven’t played on a regular basis when you consider Andy Cannon, Jamie Allen, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Scott Tanser.

“We were enforced into making changes and I’m expecting it to be a little bit bitty, if you like, but the mistakes that we’ve made today are disappointing."

Although Hill was less than happy with the result, the 47-year-old told his players to put it out of their minds and focus on getting back to their best when they face Town.

“It’s a game that we’ll put in isolation and I’ve said that to the players. It has been a hard week which has been compounded by a terrible day at the office - but that’s all it is.

“We’ll grow again, and I’ve learned about the players again today. There seemed to be a lack of energy to the way that we played, and if I’m being perfectly honest with you, the pitch didn’t play well either.

“I can’t and I won’t beat the players up. I don’t feel as though I need to.

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“I’m a lot of players down so I’m asking players who haven’t played on a regular basis to respond to losing the likes of Steven Davies, Matty Lund, Oliver Rathbone, Joe Thompson, Josh Lillis, and Keith Keane today when he was out.

“Like anybody, we have to respond better to the injuries that we’ve received this week. But it has been difficult - if we had received these injuries on Monday then the planning would have been a lot easier. At least two of those players were playing at this point yesterday, and I’ve had to change it very quickly, so there wasn’t that continuity.

“But I think the players who played today benefited playing today.”