|
"The most important thing now is to follow that (win at Bury in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy) with a victory in the league. We have to get back to winning ways if we want to stay in the top six of the division.
"Results in the league have been disappointing lately but not so some of the performances. There wasn't a great deal wrong with our performance against Port Vale last Friday. We created enough chances to win. They had three shots and went away with a 2-1 win.
"That was so disappointing for me. But at least we are creating chances and that's a big thing. I would be more worried if we were not creating anything. The next part of the jigsaw is putting those chances away.
"The problem you have in a 4-4-2 set up when you are playing a 4-4-3 is that the opposition's spare (midfield) man is, nine times out of 10, just in front of the back four and picks up the loose ball. If that player is someone who has the ability to hurt you with the range of his passing, like a Jason McAteer, then it can cause problems.
"When you are the away side coming up against that system you sometimes have to adjust. I have to be on the button and see if we need to change our system. There is nothing wrong with changing your system during a game if the other team is on top. It is no reflection on your own players.
"Who is to say I won't go up there and play the same way as Carlisle? It is something I have to look at. We do have the players to change if we need to."
Meanwhile one-time Manchester City winger Chris Shuker commented :
"I think we have the here players to do a good job this season. We made a good start and then the last month was very frustrating, particularly losing at home to Port Vale last Friday. But I don't think there is too much to worry about. We are still in sixth place so we are right in there.
"The Bury result should help, even if it was in a different competition. It was a kind of performance we were producing at the start of the season when we were keeping a lot of clean sheets and scoring a few goals."
In surprising news Tranmere top scorer Gareth Taylor could return to action tomorrow for the first time since he sustained a double hairline fracture of the lower jaw in a game against Nottingham Forest on September the 23rd. Manager Ronnie Moore saying that he will leave the final decision on whether he plays or not up to Taylor :
"Gareth is going to be a last-minute decision and that decision will be down to him. We are not forcing him into anything. He had done no heading until Thursday and if he gets any reaction from it then he will not play. My own gut feeling is that this may be a week too early for him."
Giant targetman Calvin Zola is definitely sidelined with a foot injury though, and that leaves Rovers with just two fit strikers in Chris Greenacre and Steve Davies.
The referee for tomorrow's match is Clive Oliver from Ashington, and he will be assisted down the lines by Mick McDonough from Tyne and Wear and Neil Yates from Lancashire, meanwhile the fourth official will be Michael Oliver from Northumberland.