Tranmere Rovers manager Keith Hill was “delighted” as his side earned their third straight win in Tuesday night’s 1-0 victory over Newport County at Prenton Park.
Liam Feeney’s sixth minute goal after positive play from David Nugent and Kaiyne Woolery was enough to secure maximum points for Hill’s men which moved them level on points with Sky Bet League Two’s top three.
TRFC were forced to deal with Newport pressure late on in the game, but goalkeeper Scott Davies and his defence remained firm to preserve the result.
And Hill hailed the desire and determination showcased by his players throughout the 90 minutes.
Hill said: “I’m delighted but you can’t get too emotional at the result. Performance-wise I thought we showed some great determination in the first-half without having the target men.
“We played some nice stuff and then the second-half became a real battle. They are a good side, they are an excellent side and they have been knocking at the door season after season under Michael Flynn, and I think it is a good result and I’m pleased with the performance.
“The key elements of winning a football match are winning the fight and winning the right to play football. There was a lot to admire from our team with a determination and desire, and it’s our ambition to win and see that game out against difficult opponents.
“We have got a lot of heart in our team and I am very pleased for the players.
“It is an important clean sheet when you consider what we have been free-scoring and you can’t always be like that, so we got the clean sheet and that’s what is special because it won us the game, but that clean sheet is the way we defend from the front, it is backed up by our goalkeeper, our back four, our back five, and we managed the game well and the result is three points.
“We have got threats to come in and we were without Vaughany tonight and it was probably a bit too early for David Nugent, but he was tremendous, he was prepared to work hard for the team and that will stand him in good stead, so we’ll need him.
“You can’t always be plan A and you have to be at your strongest week in, week out and it’s players who are chomping at the bit and they have to be game-ready for big moments and we had players ready for big moments and that’s what we need throughout the squad.
“We’ve still got 15 games in the league to play and nothing has been decided yet, but we are putting ourselves in a good position. We’re really pleased at this moment in time, but we have to be ready for the long journey ahead.
“The lads performed well against Newport and it’s Crawley on Saturday and we’ve got to make sure that we are ready for that, and we have got to try and build on it and perform.”
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