The Shakers came from a goal down on Tuesday night to draw 1-1 with their rivals Dale and clinched a place in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy quarter-finals with a 5-4 win in the penalty shoot-out.
Trevor Carson's save from Phil Edwards proved crucial and Blackwell felt the performance was a step in the right direction.
"It's all about hitting the ground running and I've had no time whatsoever to look at the players, get information into them and see them one to one - but it's game after game at the minute and it makes it very difficult," he said.
"This is the first time I've not had an international break, and normally I'd be on the beach in Dubai right now! But I'm glad to be here in sunny Rochdale.
"Confidence among the players has got to be rebuilt and we have to start somewhere. As bad as we were in the first half we were quite good in the second half. We got among them and looked a decent team in the end."
