A frustrated Micky Mellon expressed his disappointment at the referee and believes his players deserved more than a draw against Carlisle United.
A 97th-minute equaliser from Carlisle’s Tobi Sho-Silva prevented Rovers from taking all three points. In his post-match interview, Micky highlighted some poor refereeing decisions.
“I have to be careful what I say, but I just hope somebody upstairs looks at it and something happens. There was a good crowd here today and they deserve better, the players also deserve better. Both managers are complaining about how bad it was. Something has to be done. But I don’t think it will be, that’s the sad thing about it.”
Micky was particularly aggrieved by the two Tranmere red cards.
“It’s bizarre, it’s crazy. We will lose the players for other games now so there is a rolling punishment that we get for that. I’m trying to be careful with what I say and make sure that I represent the fans all the time because I understand how they will feel. They will obviously want me to talk about that.”
During his interview, the gaffer gave a direct message to the fans.
“I’m sorry I have to be careful what I say. You deserve better than that. Your support was fantastic today. The players fought so hard and deserved so much more.”
Carlisle’s first goal came from a corner kick that was taken short, which disappointed Micky.
“There is no doubt we have to do better in that moment because we have got the numbers back. It’s a set play and we have to defend that moment much better, we know that. There was a 1v1 moment in there, and we had enough players to get out to the ball and do a bit better.”
Despite being down to ten men, Rovers continued to play with positivity, which was rewarded with a fantastic second goal from Elliott Nevitt.
“We were determined to keep a threat higher up the pitch and be brave, so we defended with seven and allowed the two to stay up. It was working quite well to be fair. Then it was taken out of my hands because it was not about football in the end.
“I’m so respectful to other teams, I like Paul Simpson. It’s good to see him back in football. But there is no way they were getting anything out of that game. So that’s the disappointing thing. Obviously, you have to readjust and go and find another way. It’s still very raw and I have to go on autopilot to make sure I say the right things.”
Micky ended the interview by speaking about how the team plans on moving forward from the disappointing result.
“The luck wasn’t with us and that is what makes it even sorer. We will take that pain away with us. We have to show the qualities that you learn in football to come back again, but we will suffer in the next few days.”