Tranmere showed their promotion credentials – Micky Mellon

Posted Wednesday, January 12, 2022 by PA

Micky Mellon felt Tranmere showed why they are in the Sky Bet League Two promotion race as they fought back for a 1-1 draw at Salford.

A howler from Rovers goalkeeper Ross Doohan had gifted Salford striker Remi Oteh a first-half opener before substitute Paul Glatzel headed a deserved second-half equaliser.

“It wasn’t a game for the purists but you’ve got to be good at what the game is asking you,” said Mellon, whose side came into the game on the back of a six-match winning run.

“It was a physical game, about knock-downs and coming out on top.

“We gave a goal away that is uncharacteristic of us but we showed resilience and kept believing the opportunity would come at some stage.

“We spoke at half-time that we would be good enough to gain an opportunity and we did that and are grateful to have taken it. I don’t remember Salford having many opportunities.

“It was just a good old-fashioned League Two battle, frosty pitch and floodlights. That’s what you will get now for the next couple of weeks.

“We came here to try and win but knew it was going to be a tough game. We battled and defended brilliantly, the back four again were outstanding. We showed again why we are at the right end of the table.

“Ross has saved us many times before and performed heroically, so he has a wee bit of credit in the bank.

“Elliott Nevitt was injured at half-time and felt he couldn’t carry on, so we will see how his calf is.”

Salford boss Gary Bowyer was frustrated his side let the lead slip.

“You always want three points,” he said. “It was a tough game, not the most eye-catching. We knew it would be a battle and it was.

“It was competitive and we had to stand up to that with the resources we had available to us, given we had eight missing.

“So I thought the lads did really well. We are disappointed with the goal and felt we could have capitalised better on our chances.

“Neither keeper made a save. It wasn’t a bad boxing match, people landing punches without the knockout blow.

“Remi ran hard to chase the keeper down, the goalie makes a mistake and it is still a composed finish. He could have quite easily blazed it over but he was calm and composed.

“We take the positives out of this performance, we will debrief for sure. It keeps our own little run going, that’s three unbeaten now.

“We have got to recover now and pick up the wounded and get ready to go again on Saturday.

“The area that we are most stretched in is up top. You are asking players who have missed games and training to come in and do quick turnarounds.

“Credit to the lads out there and everything that they gave us.”