Portsmouth lauded as they play it perfectly on the road at Rochdale

A 3-0 win at Rochdale made it one defeat in 11 for the Blues and four wins along with two draws from their past six fixtures.

Kenny Jackett’s side allowed the home to dominate possession but Dale couldn’t create much in the way of clear openings.

The Blues then punished them on the break and Gallen felt the margin of victory could’ve been greater.

The assistant manager said: ‘In the first half they were in the ascendancy and had most of the possession.

‘Having said that, we took the lead with a good bit of ability. It was a very good goal.

‘They were on top without having very many chances and had a lot of possession and territory.

‘We needed to do better in the second half, though, and I felt we did that.

‘They were going to come at us but we could sit in, intercept and then escape. It worked and we could’ve scored some more.’