PHIL Parkinson reckons last night’s hard-fought victory for Wanderers over Rochdale was one of the most satisfying of the season to date.

Frustrations were boiling over around the Macron with the scoreline at 0-0 going into the final 10 minutes.

The Whites had managed just two shots on target – both of which were cleared off the line – and were struggling to see off Keith Hill’s stubborn Rochdale side.

In the end, a scrappy goal seven minutes from time awarded to Mark Beevers earned three points to close the gap on second-placed Scunthorpe United and lighten the mood.

“We knew it would be a scrappy game because we know how Rochdale play and we knew they would set up to make it very difficult for us,” Parkinson said.

“I understand the supporters at points got frustrated because we were playing with the quality that we have done in recent weeks – but my question to them is ‘did we pass the ball well Saturday?’ Yes we did.

“Did we set out not to play? No we didn’t.

“Did we not play with the quality to get that first pass off to break the press, which Rochdale set up with, we probably didn’t.

“Do we need to give credit to Rochdale for the way they set up? Definitely. They were excellent in the way they pressed us and the way they made it a scrappy game.

“But when you don’t play great and you are not allowed to play great, it’s important to win, which we did.”

Saturday’s 4-1 win against Walsall had been easier on the eye but Parkinson believes by stringing two victories together his team has underlined their promotion credentials.

“If you look at the stats, it’s really, really difficult to win Saturday then win Tuesday at home,” he said. “The reason for that is teams come to your place three days later and know that you played well, so set themselves up to be hard to beat and make the game horrible, just like Rochdale did.

“This, for me, is one of the biggest wins of the season so far.”