Rochdale assistant boss David Flitcroft told his players their second-half fightback was all in vain after a 3-2 home defeat to Chesterfield.

Flitcroft said: "We know the lads have it in them to fight back from two and three goals down, but it is disappointing that we are having to do that. It is becoming a recurring theme and it's one we need to address.

"We give the players freedom to express themselves, allow them to get forward and be expansive - that can mean we leave the back door open at times and I feel we have been a bit loose of late.

"We went forward with great verve, but we didn't keep the door closed defensively. We came back from two goals down, but I'm not sure it is an upside because we had prepared the players to do that in the opening 45 minutes.

"It's no good digging in at half-time when you are two goals down, you want to be doing that from the start. It's a worry for us but it's something we'll be determined to nail next week."