DALE make the short trip to Bury on Saturday afternoon with manager Steve Parkin trying to stave off mental fatigue among his players.

Parkin feels mental strength is essential at this stage of the season as the wear and tear of the campaign catches up with players.

And he stressed the importance of winning individual battles in Dale's attempt to end the season on a high.

'The most important thing for the players at this stage of the season is for them to show mental strength,' said Parkin. 'Each player needs to be better than the man they are up against, and you need seven or eight players in the side achieving that if you are to win.

'We haven't had that in the last couple of games, but we will be looking to get it back against Bury.'

Dale are boosted by the return from suspension of Paul Tait for the derby game against the Shakers at Gigg Lane, a ground on which they have not lost a competitive match for almost 22 years.

Grant Holt picked up his 15th caution of the season against Wycombe on Monday but with the seven-day rule in place he is available to play.

It looks likely Parkin will start with the Tait-Holt combination that has served him well this season, leaving loan-signing Marc Richards on the bench.

'Taity's back from suspension and, while he's not always been a favourite with the crowd, we have missed his set-up play and it's a plus point that we have him back,' said Parkin.

'For Grant Holt it's a chance to go out with a bang. He not been as sharp as he can be in the last few games so we will be looking for him as our top scorer to give us an energetic display.'

Parkin said there was still an important role for Richards to play this weekend.

'Having played well against Southend Marc started to tire against Wycombe on Monday and that was probably a game too far for him.

'He's looking more refreshed and scored a couple of goals in training on Thursday, and even if we use him from the bench on Saturday at least he gives us another option up front to bring on.'

Even if Richards does not feature this weekend, he is poised to step in for Holt when his suspension kicks in for the home match against Leyton Orient next Saturday.

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