Tranmere Rovers manager Micky Mellon believes that the Club’s previous experiences can stand his side in good stead ahead of Friday night’s Sky Bet League Two Play-Off semi-final when Forest Green Rovers visit Prenton Park, 7:45pm kick-off.
Mellon’s men concluded the regular season with a sixth-placed finish in the fourth-tier, in what was their first year back playing at EFL level.
Now they face Mark Cooper’s Gloucestershire outfit in the first of two legs for a Friday night football clash under the lights on the Wirral before a trip to the New Lawn on Monday for a place in the Final at Wembley Stadium.
TRFC will be in the Play-Offs for a third straight campaign as they aim for a second successive promotion after last May’s Vanarama National League triumph – a feat that the Club can use heading in to the Forest Green fixtures, according to Mellon.
Mellon said: “There are never two games that are the same, but you are aware of the environment and any experiences that you have gone through will only help and a lot of the players have been through that as well.
“You have got to take forward the work that you have already done in to these games. We have a way of playing that has been designed and followed in to six league games and cup games, so we try and take the games that you’re going in to in a different environment, as a cup competition.
“We’ll be ready and we’re good to good to go for it, you try and look at everything you can to try and help the lads be ready and focused for the game, you will give the best chance as possible of being ready and anything that they face hopefully will be covered in the build-up to the game.
“It’s a Play-Off game, we know that’s it’s the next four best teams in a league season so you know it is going to be tough, the margins will be important but we’ve got respect for all the teams as they have all done well this season so we have to make sure we get our mentality right and our focus right for all the games.”
As the famous Friday night football returns to Prenton Park for a third time in 2018/19, the Scottish boss is looking forward to seeing the SWA Pack the Park like they did in previous wins at home to Macclesfield Town and Crewe Alexandra.
Mellon added: “We like playing on Friday nights. We have spoke about that many times. Anything we can use to get the little marginal gains, we will. We love our Friday night games in Birkenhead, so we are looking forward to it.
“We will do the best we can and if we have to adjust and adapt to anything that we do over the four halves of football, we’ll do that.”
You can watch Micky's full interview on iFollow here