Midfielder Lee O'Connor believes a slow start was Rovers' Achilles heel on Saturday, as goals from Jake Reeves and Jordan Roberts condemned the SWA to a defeat on the opening day of the season.
Lee started his interview with local media by touching on the physicality of Stevenage, something he believes Rovers will come up against a lot this season.
"They are (a physical side) but we're going to come up against that a lot this season, we have to learn quick. We passed it well at times, we created a few chances, but the fundamentals weren't there today, not by a long shot."
Lee also took the time to praise the early shot-stopping of Ross Doohan in the game's early moments, which kept Tranmere in the game. He believes the slow start from the squad gave Stevenage encouragement and is keen to not make it a regular habit.
"Ross made a few great saves at the start, you give them that encouragement at the start of the game it's always going to be difficult. We have to start our games better. I think we started the second half better, we had a 15-20 minute spell and that was about it. There's a lot of room for improvement."
There was a handful of debutants in the Rovers squad, including all three central defenders, but Lee was keen to not use this as an excuse. He called out a lack of bravery, highlighting that as the key issue for Tranmere’s downfall on Saturday.
"There's a lot of new players, but we're all good players and not enough of us turned up today, that was it. We weren't brave enough at times, as I said the fundamentals, the heading, the defending, the winning second balls better, which are bread and butter in this league. Not good enough today."
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