Nigel Adkins says his Tranmere side need to display the same mentality they’ve shown in recent months, going into this weekend’s match against Sutton United.
Rovers host the South Londoners at Prenton Park on Saturday 2nd March (3pm kick-off). The visitors are sat bottom of the League Two table and fighting desperately to retain their EFL status.
Tranmere have lost consecutive matches on the road but will be hoping to regain the momentum generated from their last outing at home, a 4-0 triumph over Stockport County.
ON THE SWINDON GAME:
“We got back at 3am on Wednesday morning, so Wednesday afternoon I sat down and watched the game back, spent three hours analysing things, what could we go and improve on. I've changed the team round a little bit, maybe that had a bit of an effect on it as well, on the big pitch. From my point of view, many lessons learned, we had a talk about it on Thursday morning. Quickly got the line drawn underneath Swindon and we've moved on to the next game, which is a real important one now at Prenton Park against Sutton United.”
ON LUKE NORRIS’ RETURN:
“Luke's the same as every single player, they’ve all got a part to play. It's great that he's back, he's played 30 minutes off the bench against Forest Green Rovers on the Saturday, he's played 60 minutes now against Swindon Town. It's nearly a year he’s been out, when you break it all down. You’ve got to nurture him through. It's clear that the big man's rusty, he's got to get used to it all. We've got to be very mindful that we don't overload it where he breaks down and he's out.”
ON THE SUTTON GAME:
“We know it's going to be competitive, but our last game at home, we knew it was going to be competitive, we won 4-0. Same mentality going into this game, which is what I'd like to think we've consistently done, especially since November. A couple of games, the results have gone against us, but we could quite easily have won those games.
“New manager’s gone in there, obviously they brought some new players in as well, but the principals are still there. You're going to have to work hard, you're going to have to compete, you're going to have to be very good defending set pieces. We've been in every game, and we've been competitive, and we need to continue that, with that mindset and that resilience and that dogged spirit that we've got, and the flair and the goals we score.”
ON TEAM NEWS:
“There's only Jake Leake not available for selection. The collaboration of all the coaching staff, the S&C staff, the medical staff, how we put training programmes on, how the players conduct themselves every day, the standards, the sports science data that we use highlights how hard the players work.
“The grafting, the work they do in the gym to prevent injuries is working. Competition for places is important and everybody is desperate to do well for Tranmere Rovers Football Club, for their teammates and for themselves.”
You can watch the manager's full pre-match interview below.