Tranmere Rovers look to make it three consecutive wins on Saturday afternoon as they host Hartlepool at Prenton Park.
Rovers currently sit in 12th in the Sky Bet League Two table, and a win this weekend could prove vital in their push for promotion.
The visitors, Hartlepool United, sit just two points above the drop zone of the fourth tier of English football, and without a win in the last 5, a positive result for United could be the kickstarter to help draw them out of a relegation battle.
A Jordan Turnbull goal was the difference between Tranmere Rovers and Crawley Town at Prenton Park on Tuesday evening, meaning that Micky Mellon’s side are looking for three consecutive wins, with a 1-0 win away at Stevenage less than seven days ago.
Rovers have won the majority of the games against Saturday’s opponents, winning 58 and drawing 28 out of the 127 meetings between Tranmere and Hartlepool.
Tranmere are looking positive this season at Prenton Park, winning 8 and drawing 4 out of 17 games on the Wirral – versus Hartlepool’s away form of 11 defeats and 3 draws out of 17 games away from the north east.
One To Watch: Josh Umerah
Josh Umerah is a 25-year-old striker who has played for Saturday’s visitors since 2021.
The forward started his career at Charlton Athletic aged 11 in the Academy Setup, and signed his first professional contract aged 18 at the Valley back in 2015.
Umerah only made 2 senior appearances for Athletic in his four year spell, as well as enjoying loan spells at Kilmarnock, Wycombe Wanderers and Boreham Wood.
He dropped to the Vanarama National League in 2019 at Ebbsfleet United, scoring 5 goals in 30 games.
He also had a stint at Torquay United in the 2020/21 season, scoring just 1 goal in 26 games in what was described as the ‘COVID season’.
A move to Wealdstone then came where he broke through as one of the National League’s best, scoring 17 goals in 43 games.
He signed for Hartlepool in the summer of 2022, and he scored his first United goal in the August in a 2-1 defeat to Northampton Town. He has scored 13 goals and contributed 2 assists in 36 games so far this season.
The Manager: John Askey
John Askey is a 58-year-old football manager who enjoyed a very good footballing career, playing over 500 games for Macclesfield Town.
Askey started his career in the youth teams at Port Vale and signed his first professional deal in 1982, aged 18. He was later released from the Vale and went to Milton United, before making the move to Macclesfield Town, then in the Northern Premier League.
He progressed through the leagues with the Silkmen and played at Moss Rose for 19 years, making 511 appearances and scoring 109 goals.
After retiring from playing back in 2003, he took on the manager’s job at Macclesfield that season after a time as interim manager when David Moss was sacked. He was later appointed permanently for the remainder of that season, however was later demoted to Assistant Manager following the permanent appointment of Brian Horton.
He stayed in the hotseat at Macclesfield for 5 years after being re-appointed as manager in 2013, and led the Silkmen to regular success in the National League – including winning the league in the 2017/18 season and leading the team to Wembley for the FA Trophy final in 2017.
He was appointed as Manager of League One club, Shrewsbury Town, in 2018, however was sacked in the November due to just 5 wins in his first 21 games.
Askey later returned to his boyhood club, Port Vale, as Manager in 2019, where he stayed until 2021, and then returned to Macclesfield FC, the phoenix club of Town, as a mentor for Player-Manager, Danny Whitaker.
He then was brought into York City’s Management Team to support Steve Watson, when his Assistant Manager was suspended due to a gambling investigation. Watson was sacked and Askey took over as manager, where he led City to promotion via the Play-Offs to the National League. He was dismissed last November due to a falling-out between the board and the manager. He was appointed Hartlepool Manager just over a week ago, and drew his first game against Walsall on Saturday. He has managed 466 professional games, winning 193 and drawing 115, meaning a win rate of 41.4%.
How to watch Tranmere Rovers v Harltepool United
Supporters overseas are able to stream Saturday's game live on iFollow.
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UK based supporters aren't permitted to watch the game live but can, however, listen to full match commentary.
How can I listen to live commentary of Tranmere v Hartlepool United?
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