The game at Glanford Park will come as a welcome relief for Nigel Adkins' men after the 3-0 reverse at Oldham Athletic and 3-3 home draw with Swindon Town.
Adkins will know better than to read too much into league tables, and with Rochdale sixth in League Two - and on the bak of four successive wins - the visitors will not be short of confidence.
He will hope to have Hooper, 20, back having missed the two winless league games because of a foot injury. He has netted nine times in his 14 games this season, forming an impressive strike partnership with Paul Hayes.
If he is unable to return then Adkins is likely to continue to partner Jonathan Forte up front with Hayes.
On-loan defender Krystian Pearce returned from an ankle injury to partner the captain Izzy Iriekpen on Saturday, a pairing that will continue.
The Dale manager Keith Hill will name the same side that beat Brentford at Griffin Park on Saturday - extending the Lancashire side's unbeaten run to six games.
Dean Bowditch, on loan from the Championship side Ipswich Town, scored on his debut and will pose a threat for the Iron.
If Hill does stick with the same side that played in London it means one familiar face in their line-up for home fans - the defender Nathan Stanton.
Stanton joined Dale in the summer of 2007 after being released by the then Iron manager Brian Laws. He has been a first-team regular at the club, playing 86 times in all competitions and in all 17 of Dale's games this season.
They are without the forward Jon Shaw (ankle) and defender Simon Ramsden (calf).