Tranmere Rovers manager Micky Mellon says his side showed great energy and resilience, as Tom Davies scored a late header to defeat Hartlepool.
Davies’ late winner saw Rovers record a 1-0 win over Dave Challinor’s side, and return to winning ways in Sky Bet League Two.
He said: “At Scunthorpe we were unhappy with one part of our game. I don’t believe we showed enough imagination and intent to get on the end of anything, or enough know-how. That’s all the players in the box. That’s what upsets us.
“But the rest of it. Defensively, we’re always very good as the games will tell you. I felt today we were solid and stayed in there, and eventually I believed we would have the quality to create something and the quality to get on the end of something.
“We showed great energy and resilience, and that’s something we ask when recruiting; ‘Has he got resilience?’ and ‘Can he hang on in there until the end?’, because we’ve got a demanding crowd that expects us to play well all the time and win games of football.”
Mellon was full of praise for Josh Hawkes, who came off the bench to make his debut for the club, as well as the rest of the team.
“He’s a really good and talented player. We’re really pleased to have him here, and his delivery for Davies’ header was terrific. He had a good impact when he came on.
“But I’m pleased for them all, because it wasn’t the game of our dreams, that we’d all want to watch. You don’t get that a lot of the time at this level. It’s about that moment, and digging in and finding a way.
“That’s what they did, they found a way. They got a great result, and we’re all delighted.”