Tranmere Rovers manager Micky Mellon expects a tough fixture when Blackpool visit Prenton Park on Sunday, and he wants to see a positive reaction from his side.
Rovers welcome Simon Grayson’s Seasiders to the Wirral in Sky Bet League One for their final game of 2019, as the season reaches its halfway point.
And having won their last home outing when Rushian Hepburn-Murphy’s strike secured a 1-0 victory against AFC Wimbledon, Rovers will be aiming to end the year in style in front of the SWA.
Mellon’s men slipped to a Boxing Day defeat away to Burton Albion, and the boss is looking forward to the challenge ahead with the play-off hopefuls.
He said: “As a manager I always want to be honest with everybody and we will be looking for a reaction and a quick bounce back against a strong Blackpool team.
“The Christmas period is tradition, and it is a lot to ask of the players, but it is on every club’s fixture list, it is a lot of games.
“We haven’t performed in the way in which we should have done, everyone has to take responsibility. We at Tranmere expect better than that, in a lot of the areas of the game that are important.
“Blackpool are always tough opponents and they will bring a lot of fans down here, so it will be good to play against them.
“They have got a hell of a lot of experienced players in that group and a hell of a lot of players that have been through all of this before, so we know it is going to be a really tough game for us.
“We know that we will be expected to go out there and do a lot better than what we did against Burton, we have to do a hell of a lot of things better.
“We are looking forward to the game and we are looking forward to showing a reaction.”
Micky’s pre-match thoughts and more exclusive video content is available on iFollow. CLICK HERE to sign up and watch.