"They've now shown me their standards," says McGrath after Town's impressive win at Rochdale

The Shaymen went 2-0 up at their League Two hosts, and scored again just after the interval after Rochdale had fought back to level the game.

"From the off, we were on the front foot, played really, really fast, energetic football," said McGrath.

"The game had everything I wanted from it, against a really, really good side who came out of our division last season, and that's where we want to go as a football club.

"I thought we were really bright all over, from goalkeeper through to Conor Carty, in that first 15, 20 minute spell."

Town started the game very well, pressing with intensity and racing into a two-goal lead.

"It's something I want from our players, I never want my players to take a backward step, I want us to take a forward step and if we can win the ball higher up," said McGrath.

"With the greatest respect, I want my front four or five on the ball, not my back four or five and if we can win the ball high up, that's where we have our game changers."

On the two goals his team conceded, McGrath said: "I'll look back at them. First goal I think is avoidable, and with the second goal, the guy's free at the back stick.

"You can break everything down to be avoidable but that's why we have pre-season games.

"I'll look back at that and we'll build a structure around those mistakes, but you learn more from making mistakes than not.

"It's a building process from when we first turned up, from day one to August 8. I asked the players to get better and I can visually see the group getting better."

A Town trialist and a Rochdal eplayer were both sent-off in the second-half in an incident which sparked a mass melee.

"Me and Pabs (Pablo Mills) have been in the game 25 years, and have done 25 pre-seasons, but we can't remember two red cards for the same incident," McGrath said.

"It was a bit of nothing, a bit of a coming together, two lads wanting to win the ball, their lad grabbed our lad in a head-lock, he reacted and it was just a bit of nothing.

"If the referee had said to me and Ian Watson, take them both off, we would have done, but he said the game had to be refereed properly, which is his decision.

"It could happen in a league game so it was great for us to have to adjust to it.

"We've left their two centre-halves with the ball and we had our spare man at the back, and I thought we worked that better than they did."

McGrath said his team should "take loads of confidence" from the result.

"They don't need me telling them that they've put in a really good performance tonight," he said.

"But I said to them that, unfortunately for them, they've now shown me their standards, their standards of work rate, energy levels and their will to work, so that is now the standard, so if it ever falls below that, I've always got a reference point.

"That's why we do pre-season, to get them fit and flying, and I thought the energy levels were absolutely superb."

Read more from the Town boss on the Courier website tomorrow.