"We can be a real force in the league," says Millington after Shaymen's win at Rochdale

Rob Harker's first-half goal was enough to earn Halifax the victory, moving them on to 12 points from their first seven games.

The Shaymen probably should have won by more, and Millington says if they can be more ruthless in-front of goal, they can really be a team to be reckoned with.

"I think I was bemoaning our possession in the opposition half and the final third the other day, so it's no surprise that we go away, do some work on it and the first-half we looked an awful lot better in possession in the opposition half," he told the Courier.

"We're not there yet, we've got more to work on but we feel that 75 per cent of our game is very strong, we've just got to make ourselves better in that last 25 per cent and we can be a real force in the league."

Town were backed by a strong following at Spotland, and Millington said the away support played their part in the win.

"Just a really enjoyable occasion, the fans have been unbelievable from the word go and made such a fantastic atmosphere," he said.

"They gave the lads that real impetus to go on and do what they did first-half, which I felt was dominate the game.

"Second-half, although Rochdale have had a lot of the ball, Sam's made one save per half I think.

"A really enjoyable occasion.

"We tweaked something at half-time to nullify the one threat we felt they had - John at left-back and Tyrese Sinclair on the left flank, I thought Tyrese was fantastic today.

"We felt that was their most significant threat, so we tweaked something, which I think largely nullified that threat.

"But what it did mean was they had more possession than we'd have liked second-half, although they didn't really threaten us a great deal and we did feel fairly comfortable.

"The lads have had to put a shift in to keep them at arm's length."

Millington added: "It's fantastic to have three clean sheets already this season, that's a real achievement and something that should be celebrated.

"But we could have been comfortably two or three up at half-time and had that been the case it would have been a more comfortable second-half.

"But it adds to the drama and the occasion and it might just make it that bit more enjoyable that we've let them have so much of the ball and they've still not been able to break them down."

Rochdale were relegated from League Two last season and started the day above Halifax in the table.

"The away performances have been very good, look at Solihull, Oldham, I think we performed well at Boreham Wood but they just got the rub of the green," Millington said.

"We've come away again to a big team who were above us at the start of the day and I think we've demonstrated to Rochdale what the National League's about.

"Maybe they've had a bit of a gentle introduction to National League football but looking at their fixtures in September, they'll have a more genuine experience of National League football over September.

"But it's dead pleasing for us coming to a local rival and taking away three points."

Millington praised the efforts of midfielder Luke Summerfield, who came back on after limping off in added time to help Town secure the win.

"It can't be stressed enough to explain what an absolute ultimate pro is because he was here on the sideline and the physio Aaron was rightly saying he shouldn't go back on," Millington said.

"But he ran back on because he couldn't leave the lads to see out the last period of the game, he couldn't allow himself to watch his team-mates under pressure without getting in there and helping.

"The lad just continues to amaze and impress, he's a phenomenal part of the club and we're very lucky to have him."

Millington confirmed midfielder Jamie Cooke missed the game due to a knee injury.

"We wanted to make sure we rested him and having Milli available was a real bonus, so it was the sensible thing to do to give Cookie a breather," said the Town boss.