The thing about cliches is that they are based on truth.
If you wanted to pick a textbook ‘game of two halves’ then Tuesdays fixture against Lincoln City was it. And if you could have eavesdropped on Mellon and Jackson after 40 minutes, they must have used ‘let’s just get to half time’ in their conversations.
What was said in the dressing room at half time could certainly have included a lot of football phrases too but the key thing was the tactical shift that was made, which turned the game. Lincoln players were suddenly chasing Tranmere players as we gradually asserted our authority and just about ended up as worthy victors.
All of this means we head into the Morecambe game buoyed by the triple whammy of a home win against the league leaders via a clever bit of tactical magic. And we will also be roared on by at least 1000 of the Super White Army.
Before we think everything is a fait accompli for a Rovers victory, a few notes of caution need to be sounded. Not least of which regards who will be on the pitch in a Rovers shirt. With Norwood suspended and Stockton potentially out with a hernia problem, it leaves us a little bit thin on the striker front. Apart from Paul Mullin (who will be keen to score against a club he played over 120 games for), it’s hard to second guess the managers thoughts on personnel and formation so a wait and see approach is probably the best one to take.
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The Shrimps have collected 10 points so far this year and have already clocked up 7 defeats which place them towards the bottom of the table. Despite this, they will feel aggrieved at conceding a last minute equaliser on Tuesday night at Cheltenham and could be looking to put that right on Saturday.
Morecambe also have a local connection as Jim Bentley and Kevin Ellison both hale from Merseyside. Ellison, as many will remember, has played for us as well so there will be no shortage of motivation in the Home dressing room at the weekend.
So I will be ‘glued to the radio’ on Saturday as our players head to ‘a tough place to go’ and attempt to ‘get a result’ against ‘a decent side’. Hopefully ‘at the end of the day’ we can ‘take the three points’ back home and get ready to ‘go again’ for the next game.
