Rochdale boss Keith Hill spoke to BBC Radio Manchester after his side's 3-2 defeat at home to Carlisle, Hill conceding that it is now unlikely that the 'Dale will make the League One play-off spots come the end of the season :
"When you consider the form that we are in I think the real team who is going to challenge Bournemouth for that last place is probably Exeter. We have lost three out of the last four games so it is highly unlikely that we are going to win the next three games, and I said that we would have to win three out of the last four. So, it is not impossible but it is not probable and I am a realist, today was our golden opportunity, especially when we were winning 2-1.
"But, I feel as though we have thrown away the opportunity today, we should have managed it better, we fell victim of two unusual mistakes from our team which has cost us the game from a winning situation. So, I am deeply disappointed but that was our real opportunity today to increase the gap on ourselves and Leyton Orient and Exeter, or get closer, nudge ourselves closer to Bournemouth. But, I feel as though the remaining three games is probably a bridge too far now.
"Planning for next season is always ongoing, we have been doing it probably since Christmas and going into the New Year. So, we have already started making preparations to consider for next season. We have always thought that we would be in League One so we have made League One preparations, but that in itself is a magnificent success when you consider that we were everybodies (relegation) favourites.
"So, it does seem somewhat disappointing that we are probably going to fail to get into a play-off place, but the realistic side of me suggests this is, and it is historically the most successful season the club has had in its 103 year history. So, I have got to applaud the players for that, as much as I am disappointed now and the players are and the supporters will be. When we sit back in the summer, whichever destination we choose for our holiday, we will realise what a magnificent season it has been and whether it can be repeated again next season, which is probably our aim, but a realistic aim again.
"We have passed on a lot of our goals for this season, but those goals do move and they increase with respect to how successful you are. When I went into the season I was a bit worried about the size of the budget that we had in consideration to other teams in the league. But, the players have risen above the standard that they set last season and the previous season, and they have maintained that challenge that everybody was not expecting us to, especially after Christmas, we lost the three games on the bounce after we had been unbeaten in twelve.
"Then we recovered absolutely superbly, I think we won the next five or six games on the trot, so it has given us a great opportunity and an insight into League One. But, we won't be new to League One next season and we have got to make sure that we don't get that second season syndrome. I spoke to Paul Peschisolido a couple of weeks back and he was talking about it happening at Burton, so we have got to make sure that we don't fall into that trap."