Micky Mellon hails benefit of experience as Tranmere boost survival hopes

Posted Sunday, March 08, 2020 by PA

Micky Mellon is hoping his experienced players will help Tranmere out of their relegation problems after their 2-1 win over Accrington.

It was a second successive win for Rovers, who remain in the bottom three but have games in hand.

On-loan Bradford striker James Vaughan made it two goals for Tranmere and 13 for the season with a downward header which evaded keeper Joe Bursik on eight minutes.

Veteran Peter Clarke provided the cross for the second for Mark Ellis, who had the easy task to tap into an empty net at the far post on 77 minutes.

Stanley set up a grandstand finish when Alex Woodyard headed Bobby Grant’s free-kick into his own net on 82 minutes but home defender Harvey Rodgers saw red in injury time for two bookable offences.

“It was a hard-fought game, it was what I expected at this stage of the season and it’s a massive win for us,” said Mellon.

“I am delighted. We brought experienced players in in January to help us win games like this and be cool, calm leaders.

“Everyone did their jobs, including those we brought off the bench, and we worked hard and got the result.

“I am disappointed we let them back in it at the end as it did mean it was an edgy finish but thankfully we saw it through.

“When you are winning games it boosts your confidence and you have to take your bounce into the next game, which for us is Blackpool on Tuesday.

“We have got to make sure we play on the front foot as we are fighting for our lives and we have got to give it everything we have got. I am not one to look too far ahead – just to the next game.”

Stanley boss John Coleman was disappointed at the result – a fourth game without a win – and at referee Will Finnie for sending off Rodgers.

“We started off really well and some of our passes and interchange play were breathtaking,” he said. “We had three chances in the first three minutes but we didn’t take them.

“They scored with a fluke goal, it bounced on the only part of the pitch which was bobbly and deceived our keeper.

“Then we seemed to lose our way a bit and we conceded from a set-play, a corner, which is disappointing.

“We huffed and puffed after that but it was a horrendous decision to send Harvey off. The first booking was an innocuous challenge and the second could have gone either way.

“It is easy to blame the referee though, and we have got to look at ourselves. It’s the age-old problem of conceding sloppy goals and not putting our chances away, this has plagued us all season.”