Tranmere Rovers manager Micky Mellon expects a tough test when his side host Bolton Wanderers at Prenton Park in Sky Bet League One on Saturday afternoon.
Rovers will be aiming for their first victory of the 2019/20 season as they welcome Phil Parkinson’s Trotters to the Wirral for an all North-West fixture.
TRFC renew their rivalry with the Greater Manchester outfit, with the two clubs competing at league level for the first time since 2001.
And despite Wanderers’ off-field issues which sees them travel to Merseyside on -11 points and in administration, Scotsman Mellon, 47, is wary of the challenges Bolton will bring
Mellon said: “It’s a great, healthy rivalry at any time of the season. It’s one that everyone looks forward to.
“We go into every game respecting everyone we play against and that never changes, every game that we go into and Saturday will be a really tough game and we must go and meet the challenge of that.
“We’ve done our due-diligence on them and looked and seen what we might have to do to get a result and we have approached it in the normal way as we know it will be very tough.
“We’ve had fair, old fashioned battles against Bolton and it’s what football is all about.
“Our job is to go and organise a football team to go and compete on a Saturday or a Tuesday to go and try to get a result.
“I do see improvements, there are improvements still to be done but we will work hard in order to keep trying to do that and move forward to be a very competitive team for 90 minutes on a Saturday or a Tuesday.
“We’ll keep working hard and we will always push to improve ourselves all the time in order to do that.
“We have got to be able to step up and take on the challenge that we have at a higher level, we must compete with that and make sure that we come out on top and that’s what we are working on all of the time.
“We have to go and compete over 90 minutes at League One level, the intensity is League One level, the quality is League One level and we have to step up to it and be able to compete for 90 minutes, not just spells.”
Micky’s pre-Bolton Wanderers press conference will be available on iFollow Tranmere. To watch, CLICK HERE.
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There is still time to Pack the Park on Saturday! TRFC’s home fixture with Bolton Wanderers are now on sale. To purchase online, CLICK HERE.