KEITH Hill has condemned people linking his table-topping players with rival clubs.

The latest rumour doing the rounds is that Norwich City and Peterborough United could make a move for Dale’s star striker Chris Dagnall in January but Hill said he takes no notice of such speculation.

"I don’t know where these things come from," he said. "Some press are circulating rumours that aren’t true and are trying to cause unrest and have a negative effect on my side but they will never do that.

"It’s important we don’t listen to this nonsense and just keep concentrating on what we are trying to achieve."

But one outgoing move that looks likely is loan striker Chris O’Grady’s return to League One side Oldham when his spell ends on 16 January.

Latics boss Dave Penney said: "Chris O’Grady will be coming back, that’s for sure and then we will assess what we are doing as we go into the end of January.

"He is at a team who are top of the league and are doing well and we watched him last Saturday and he was excellent.

"He has got games under his belt which he wasn’t doing here but, in all honesty with the injuries we have had here, he would have probably played more often."

Hill was disappointed but hasn’t given up fully on keeping the eight-goal hitman who, only last Saturday, said he wanted to stay at Spotland.

"A lot can happen between now and then," said Hill.

"We respect Oldham as he is their player but we would like to extend his loan spell if we can. We’ll see what happens. If not, we’ll look elsewhere."

Hill admits his squad are buzzing at the moment after chalking up their fourth straight win and topping the table by a point.

They travel to struggling 22nd placed Lincoln today, who last won in the league on October 10 and have lost 11 of their 20 league games.

Apart from bottom club Darlington, the Imps are also the lowest scorers in the league with 12 goals while Rochdale are second highest with 40.

Hill continued: "We have had a week without midweek games and now we have recharged the batteries and are looking forward to Lincoln.

"The confidence is high at the moment and we have a good squad of players here who want to play all the time and we want to retain who we can and recruit new players if possible.

"Who we recruit does depend on who we keep in January and, as I have said before, I would like to keep my loan players."

These include O’Grady, Jason Taylor (Rotherham), Will Atkinson (Hull) with keeper Tom Heaton also on loan from Manchester United.

And Hill says Dagnall, whose contract expires at the end of the season, is one of the keys to Dale’s success with 12 league goals this season – third in the rankings.

"Chris is in good form," continued Hill. "It is a product of working hard and endeavour as he covers a lot of ground and he is getting his rewards.

"We only had 16 players training on Thursday but they are all quality.

"We have a squad here who we can rotate so everyone is important and we are continually trying to improve."

One much-improved player is wideman Kallum Higginbotham who won his place back in the squad after going out on loan last season.

"He has found himself," said the Dale chief. "He has got ability and now he understands what’s needed. He has grown up. You have to be patient at times and Kallum is now doing well."

And, while Hill said only 16 players trained on Thursday, it is only minor knocks with Will Buckley and Mark Holness the two players out for the next two or three weeks with injury while Dale have avoided needless cards this season.

"That’s one thing we try and instill – discipline," added Hill. "That’s a key to success. Self discipline and leadership are important on the pitch and in all walks of life."