We hit the road again on Tuesday 13 February, as we make the trip to Prenton Park to face Tranmere Rovers.
Morecambe will be hoping to make it three wins in three when they make the journey to the Wirral to face Tranmere Rovers.
A win would also make it three wins in as many away trips for the Shrimps, after 2-1 wins at both MK Dons and Crawley Town, late goals on both occasions helping to claim three points for Ged Brannan’s side.
Brannan will be hoping to continue his side’s performance from Saturday 10 February, where he guided the Shrimps to his first home victory since taking his post in November. An early goal from Ged Garner proved to be the decider, as Morecambe came out on top to mark their 12th win of the Sky Bet League Two season.
In their fixture, Tranmere Rovers made the trip over to Yorkshire to face Doncaster Rovers at the Eco-Power Stadium. Joe Ironside opened the scoring for the hosts before the visitors equalised through Josh Hawkes on the hour mark. However, the score did not remain level for long, as Hakeeb Adelakun’s 64th minute goal secured a 2-1 win for the home side.
Tuesday night’s two sides last faced each other in this season’s reverse fixture in October 2023. On this night, a deflected goal proved the difference, with Morecambe defender Chris Stokes no doubt claiming the goal that gave Morecambe a 1-0 victory. Before this fixture, the two sides last met in the League Two play-off semi-finals. Across the two legs, the Shrimps won 3-2 on aggregate – ultimately going on to beat Newport County at Wembley to gain promotion to League One.
The Opposition
After a challenging start to their campaign, the Rovers have managed to improve their performances and now find themselves towards the middle of the League Two table. 11 wins and four draws leave Nigel Adkin’s side on 37 points, 18th position in the league standings.
Adkins has been at the helm at Prenton Park since the start of November, after spending a two-month period as interim manager following Ian Dawes’ departure. The Birkenhead local had a three-year spell as a Rovers player in the 80s.
Key Players
Experienced centre-forward Connor Jennings tops the scoring charts for Tranmere Rovers, the 32-year-old scoring nine in the league so far this season, with an additional five assists to his name. Jennings is in his second spell with the Rovers, with a double century of appearances to his name.
Rob Apter has also proven to be an important asset for the Rovers so far this season, the young Blackpool loanee scoring six and assisting two in his 25 appearances.
Ged Brannan’s Pre-Match Thoughts
Morecambe manager Ged Brannan spoke about his side remaining in the playoff mix at this stage in the season. He said:
“You want to be up there don’t you, you don’t want to be at the other end. When you’re around the playoffs, you’re doing a good job.”
“We’ve got to keep on going. We’ve got to take every game as it comes, and we’ve got a big one tomorrow.”
He went on to speak about the challenge ahead in a midweek trip to Tranmere Rovers.
“[Tranmere Rovers] are obviously a big part of me, the club, but Morecambe comes first at the minute so we will be going there to get three points.”
“They’re a hard-working team, it’s going to be a really tough game. We’ll have to pull our sleeves up and put another performance in.”
The Man in the Middle
Ben Speedie will be the man in charge at Prenton Park, the referee officiating his 24th fixture of the season. In his previous 23, Speedie has brandished 60 yellows, with an additional three reds.
The referee last took charge of a game involving the Shrimps on Halloween, when Morecambe made the trip to Barrow AFC, a result Morecambe fans will have been quick to forget.
Speedie will be joined by Daniel Woodward and Joe Simpson running the line, with fourth official Ross Joyce completing the team of officials.
Team News
Stu Moore, Donald Love, JJ McKiernan and Brandon Barker will remain sidelined for Tuesday’s Tranmere trip, with their respective injuries.
Watch Live
Shrimps’ fans who are not making the trip to Prenton Park on Tuesday night will be able to watch the action with an iFollow Shrimps video match pass.
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