Micky Mellon keeping feet on the ground after Tranmere beat Crewe to go sixth

Posted Saturday, October 15, 2022 by PA

Micky Mellon is happy to stay grounded after Tranmere’s 3-0 win over Crewe lifted Rovers up to sixth in Sky Bet League Two.

A fifth successive league victory was achieved by goals from on loan Southampton defender Dynel Simeu, Elliott Nevitt and a late deflected effort claimed by Lee O’Connor, while the Prenton Park side also recorded a fifth straight clean sheet.

Mellon said: “I am pleased with the result and pleased with the performance.

“There is still a long way to go but certainly I would rather be in this position now than not.

“But we will keep our heads down. Like we always say, don’t get carried away, keep working hard and keep trying to get better.

“Tonight we are a good team but it’s back to work on Monday to make sure we find the consistency and move into next week trying to keep improving.

“They are a very young team and we said at the start of the season we want to grow this young team that can do things a bit differently. They are starting to do that.”

For 20-year-old Southampton loanee Simeu, his 22nd-minute close-range tap-in was his first in league football.

Nevitt, 25, is still finding his feet after stepping up from non-league with Warrington Rylands.

“One of the things Elliott needs to get better at is being a six-foot-one striker in an 18-yard box, getting across people and being aggressive,” said Mellon.

Nevitt scored with towering back-post header from a right-wing cross by Josh Dacres-Cogley, with Mellon adding: “We have worked on that since we came here and he is starting to do that now. It was a great goal.

He was a first-half substitute for Paul Lewis, who could be sidelined for a minimum of four weeks with hamstring trouble.

Crewe boss Alex Morris said: “The best team won comfortably. We were outworked, outfought, outthought and we conceded three poor goals.

“I don’t think there is anything more comprehensive to say other than that. We were nowhere near throughout the game.

“Leading into the first goal, it was bitty, it was scrappy and there was nothing in the game. But we gave away another horrid set-play just like we did against Gillingham.

“From that point onwards we still had lots of time to try and affect and influence the game. But we didn’t, aside from two chances for Courtney (Baker-Richardson) in quick succession in the second half.

“We just wilted. When we have gone ahead to teams like Northampton, Stevenage and Mansfield they have had that experience, knowhow and ability to fight themselves back into the game.

“We never showed any indication we were going to do that.”