WANDERERS boss Gareth Ainsworth said he's not expecting any favours from his friend Keith Hill as Blues look to shoot down leaders Rochdale tomorrow.

Hill led Dale back to the top of the table and gave Wanderers a helping hand at the same time as they comfortably defeated the side in the most immediate danger of relegation, Northampton Town, in midweek.

The new league leaders are the division's second highest scorers and beat the Cobblers 3-0 at Sixfields despite playing for nearly a third of the game a man light following Matt Lund's dismissal.

And Ainsworth said: "My record's not been great against Keith as a manager, so it would be nice to start a winning streak against him on Saturday when we desperately need the points, but so do they. It should be a good game.

"Keith Hill's an old team mate of mine and he's done fantastically as a manager. I rate him highly as an intelligent, tactical footballing mind.

"He's probably thought he's done me a favour so he's not going to be giving me any more.

"We know what we're up against. It's a tough one but I'm sure the fans will be roused from the other night."

But the Blues boss said his men have a habit of performing well when the odds are against them, pointing out Wanderers ended their run of one win in 18 games by beating then-leaders Chesterfield 1-0.

He said: "We've done it before and that's the big thing. We tend to turn up against the leaders, or the top teams in the league."

Blues had a shocking start at Spotland when the sides last met in September as Rochdale breezed into a 3-0 lead inside the game's opening quarter of an hour.

Wanderers managed to pull it back to 3-2 and Ainsworth said: "After a change in formation we handled them quite well and came back into the game and probably could have equalised at the end.

"We'll have to be all on the ball, including myself and the staff, to put a team out to handle Rochdale and what they do."