Tranmere Rovers look to build on good performances across the festive period, as Micky Mellon’s side visit Crewe Alexandra.
Tranmere Rovers will take short trip to the Mornflake Stadium to face Crewe Alexandra on New Year’s Day, as Micky Mellon’s side look to make it 9 points from 9 over the festive period.
A win for Tranmere could take them up to 7th place in the table if results go their way, with the points between Christmas and New Year propelling the Whites up the Sky Bet League Two standings.
17th place Crewe Alexandra come into the game with 2 wins in the last 5 league games, after a 3-0 defeat at home to Carlisle on Thursday evening in the final fixture of 2022.
The Super White Army will be expecting big things from the in-form Rovers side, with the team displaying an excellent performance at Prenton Park on Boxing Day when they beat Doncaster Rovers 3-0, and another good performance at Barrow on Thursday evening – showing exactly what the team are capable of.
Boss, Micky Mellon, expressed his delight at what was described as a performance will ‘desire and fight to win the game’ from his side in the win over Barrow on Thursday.
“To come to a place like Barrow and to perform like we did is very, very good. It’s a credit to the players, especially to go down to ten men – they showed a lot of character, and the supporters rallied them on – it was great to get the winner and to return home with three points.”
One to look forward to though for Crewe fans is that their home form is more successful so far this season than their away form, with 4 wins out of a possible 11 games, as well as 3 draws and 4 losses at the Mornflake Stadium.
Tranmere have already beat Crewe Alexandra in League Two this season, when a goal from Dynel Simeu and a brace from Elliott Nevitt ensured the three points were kept at Prenton Park. Tranmere look to make it two wins from a possible two against the Alex on New Year’s Day.
The Manager: Lee Bell
Crewe Alexandra Manager, Lee Bell, was appointed manager of the club in December, and Sunday’s game will mark one month in charge.
Born in Alsager, Bell started his career aged 14 when he joined Crewe Alexandra’s Academy. He was handed his first professional contract with Crewe in 2002, where he made 53 appearances, scoring 3 goals.
He enjoyed loan spells at Shrewsbury Town and Burton Albion, before signing permanently with the Albion in 2007. He played 12 times for Burton, before joining Mansfield Town for the 2007/08 season.
He later spent 2 years at Macclesfield Town, playing 83 times, scoring 3 goals, and towards the end of his career, returned to four of his former clubs, with further spells at Crewe Alexandra, Burton Albion and Macclesfield Town.
Bell has been involved with Crewe as a coach since retirement in 2015, as Under 18s coach and Under 18s Manager. He was then promoted to Under 23s Manager and was appointed First Team interim manager in November after Morris stepped down from the role.
He was offered the permanent job in December 2022 and since has managed just 3 fixtures, being defeated in both of those games – against Newport County, Carlisle United and Stockport County.
Match Coverage:
You can also follow the action through our social media channels below, with full text coverage during the fixture, followed by a match report.
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Match reaction from Micky Mellon and a player will follow on our website and YouTube channel.