Coleman: Squad good enough to survive

New manager John Coleman believes he has the talent at his disposal within the Rochdale squad to avoid relegation from npower League One.

Coleman was confirmed as Steve Eyre's successor at Spotland on Tuesday, ending an association with Accrington spanning 13 seasons.

Rochdale are second-bottom of League One and four points from safety after winning only two of their past 19 games but Coleman feels his new charges can turn the slump around.

"I think we've inherited a good squad," he said. "Obviously things haven't gone well, results haven't been the best and there's a lot of factors that can come into that

"We have still got good players here. I think they have shown - possibly not as often as they would have liked this season - that they can play and they're good players.

"The atmosphere is not as bad as I thought it would be when I came in. I thought the lads would be really chins on the floor but footballers can be bubbly characters when they want and they can hopefully rise to the occasion."