Assistant manager Jimmy Bell described Rochdale's finishing as woeful after a goalless with 10-man Fleetwood on Saturday.
Dale had a gilt-edged chance to open the scoring early in the second half when they were awarded a penalty for a foul by Alex Marrow on Bobby Grant, but Ashley Grimes' spot kick was pushed onto the post by Scott Davies.
And when Fleetwood had Marrow dismissed for a second bookable offence with 25 minutes remaining, Rochdale were still unable to press home their advantage.
"It's two points dropped and we've told the players that," said Bell. "Collectively and individually we have to acknowledge the importance of winning such games, and that's another two points we've dropped.
"We should have won the match, but the quality wasn't quite there in the end. Ashley had never missed a penalty for Rochdale and that's why he was on penalty duty. It was a good strike and a fine save by the goalkeeper.
"Ashley is bitterly disappointed, but there were other chances in the game and against 10 men who sat in. We worked the ball in good areas but we just never had that finishing touch or created good chances. Our shooting was nothing short of woeful, and that's something we have to address if we want to be winning games at home."
