Micky Mellon remains grounded as Tranmere seal seventh-straight win

Posted Sunday, March 31, 2019 by PA

Micky Mellon was in no mood to get carried away after Tranmere secured a seventh-straight victory with a 3-0 result against Carlisle at Prenton Park that keeps their automatic promotion assault on target.

The visitors had enjoyed the best chances of the first half but fell behind when Ollie Banks nodded home David Perkins’ fierce cross on the stroke of the half-time.

But after the break it was all Tranmere with James Norwood and Manny Monthe polishing off an impressive victory.

Mellon said: “We were made to work very hard for it. I’m not getting carried away thinking it was anything other than pure hard work.

“We will of course enjoy the result this evening, but we’ll very quickly get back to getting our minds around what’s a massive week.

“They made it very tough for us and we had to stick to what we believe will get us results. But we kept our patience and we kept working away and we got the goal at a good time.

“It’s important when you’re playing against that kind of system and tactics that you get the first goal.

“We were able to rejig a bit at half-time and change roles a bit and we got momentum very early on, right on the front foot.

“Manny Monthe is 6ft 4in and is a hell of big lump of a lad and if the delivery is right then you expect him to get on it even more, but it was a terrific header and we’re really pleased for him.”

Despite the result, United manager Steven Pressley had no complaints with his team’s performance.

He said: “We worked ever so hard for 44 minutes of the first half. We worked on a certain game plan, certain aspects and I thought we carried it out brilliantly.

“The disappointing factor is that you lose a goal right on the stroke of half-time.

“It’s a time when we just need to show a better mentality. It’s a corner kick and we have to do the small details better, as we did on the third goal, it’s a corner kick and we lose a goal.

“But the application of the players – no complaints – just the small details that we need to do better.

“In the end it looks like a convincing win for Tranmere but it was far from that for long periods of the game.”