Hughes's red card proved the turning point of the game
SHRIMPS' boss Jim Bentley admitted that Mark Hughes's 65th minute red card proved the turning point of the game in his side's first defeat of the season at Tranmere on Saturday.
Skipper Hughes had given the Shrimps a first-half lead before Cole Stockton equalised shortly before the half hour but was then sent off after an off the ball incident with Kayode Odejayi on 63 minutes.
Bentley said: “Our game plan was working really well.
“We did well with our shape and could have done better on the counter attack but we scored a good goal from a corner with a well-trained routine.
“We knew going into the second half 1-0 up that we had to do well in the first 10 or 15 minutes but we made a little bit of a slip in the back four that made it 1-1 but we won the game from 1-1 last week and there was no reason we couldn’t do it again.
“We also had a strong bench to affect the game but the red card was the key moment.
“Some people say it was a red card, some people say it wasn’t. I haven’t really seen it but we’ll have to see if the skipper’s ill discipline has cost us or we’ve been a bit hard done by.
“You could see that their fans were up for every decision and when something like that happens you’re leaving yourself wide open for what came.
“The referee didn’t see it, the linesman thought he had. I’m honest and I’ve asked Odejayi, who I respect as a footballer and a person, if there was any contact and he said there wasn’t.
“But if you make the movement sometimes you can get it for that as well.
“It’s disappointing but we’ve got to take it on the chin.
“Fair play to the other 10 players who really worked hard and put their bodies on the line but unfortunately we’ve just switched off in the 90th minute and they’ve got the winner.”