Hogan Dale's hat-trick hero

Rochdale assistant Chris Beech hailed hat-trick hero Scott Hogan after the striker bagged a treble in the 3-0 win over Oxford.

Hogan made it 19 goals for the season as Dale moved four points clear of fourth place in Sky Bet League Two to strengthen their bid for automatic promotion. Beech believes the forward has been a different man since the transfer window closed. Hogan turned down a move to Peterborough and was linked with a host of clubs during January. It unsettled the 21-year-old and his form suffered as a result. But he has been in red hot form since the window closed. "It was Scott's second hat-trick since the transfer window closed and it's amazing what he's done since the end of January," said Beech. "He has concentrated and he has been committed since his mind has been clear and it has been evident in his performances." Despite earning some breathing space between themselves and the play-off places, Beech insisted nobody in the Rochdale camp would be getting carried away. He added: "There is no big drama, it's three points from one game of football and there are 13 games left. We know what we want to do but we have no right to get that, we have to earn the right to get it. "We rode our luck a little bit with the chance Oxford had at the back post when Josh Lillis made the save and their lad missed the rebound. But we started to wear Oxford down as the first half went on."