Tranmere Rovers
Mansfield Town v Tranmere Rovers: Match Preview
By Louise Formston
April 14 2015
Our Match Preview writer Louise Formston takes a look ahead to Tuesday night's vital away trip to Mansfield Town.......
Tranmere Rovers will make the short journey to Nottinghamshire on Tuesday night when they face fellow league strugglers Mansfield Town. Mansfield have been unsuccessful in attempting to recreate last season’s finish of 11th place whilst Rovers haven’t been able to adapt to League Two football and are still one point from safety as they sit 23rd in the table. A win for Tranmere would see them potentially leap frog Hartlepool into 22nd, depending on results elsewhere whilst three points for Mansfield would give them a fighting chance of escaping the relegation battle they currently find themselves in. With everything to play for, it’s a high stakes game for both teams.
Form Guide:
Easter saw mixed fortunes for Rovers with a draw against Stevenage before a loss against Luton Town, compounded only by a narrow 1-0 loss to Southend on Saturday. Rovers’ have yet to put together back-to-back league wins this season, instead relying on draws to pick up their points. It’s this inconsistency that might ultimately cost them their place in the Football League. The last 6 games have seen Rovers pick up five points out of a possible 18, but have played three of the top six during that run.
Tranmere will head into the game having only won four away from home this season, compared with Mansfield’s nine home wins. However Mansfield’s last win came on the 17th March, with the Stags having lost all five games since which has left them perilously close to the relegation zone. Town’s last game was a 2-1 loss away at Plymouth, conceding both goals from set pieces. Providing neither team give away a set piece there’s a chance this game may stay goalless (a 0-0 draw is priced at 7/1 with SkyBet).
Previous Meeting:
The two teams met last October in what was Micky Adams' first game in charge of Rovers. Finishing in a 0-0 draw, Rovers had the best opportunities but failed to capitalise. The draw ended Rovers’ run of five straight defeats whilst for Mansfield it was the third in a run of four draws. The teams also met in the first round of the Capital One Cup in 2013, with Tranmere coming out on top with a 2-0 win. Goals from Andy Robinson and Chris Atkinson in the first half were enough to seal the win and send Rovers into the second round where they faced Bolton at home.
Injuries and Suspensions:
Despite a number of players returning from injury Saturday’s game saw noticeable absences due to illness with Adam Dugdale, George Green and Iain Hume all missing through the mysterious illness that saw Max Power stretchered off against Luton Town. Following his collapse Power played the full 90 on Saturday, increasingly the likelihood of Dugdale, Green and Hume all being available come Tuesday night – although recovery time is a little less than Power. Perhaps the real risk is how many other players are set to come down with the illness? Josh Thompson returned against Southend and looks set to start again on Tuesday whilst also Cole Stockton made his return from a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
George Green was one of three Rovers players to miss the game at Southend due to injury
Mansfield are not without injuries heading into Tuesday’s game. Both Hawkridge and Sutton both missed Saturday’s game through illness – is there something going round in League Two?! – whilst goalkeeper Pidgeley was ruled out with a hamstring injury. It’s unclear whether all or any of the missing three will make a return for Tuesday. However, Liam Hearne did make a first team return against Plymouth after eight months out with serious knee injury and the striker is likely to play again on Tuesday.
The Opposition Dugout:
Mansfield’s man in charge is player manager Adam Murray. At 33, his appointment as manager of Mansfield in December 2014 makes him the youngest manager currently in both the Premier League and the Football League. His playing career has stretched for 16 years including appearances for Derby, Carlisle, and Macclesfield Town before he signed for Mansfield following a loan spell in 2011. A year later, the midfielder became assistant manager to Paul Cox, but following his departure Murray stepped up as caretaker manager, leading Mansfield to a 1-0 win over Plymouth. After a number of improved results, with just one loss, Murray became first team manager and has since recorded a win rate of 24%.
One to Watch:
Vadaine Oliver (English) - 23
Striker, Vadaine Oliver is on loan to Mansfield from Crewe Alexandra and his seven goals so far this season has secured him a place as the Stags top scorer. Still only 23, he’s already played for Sheffield Wednesday and Lincoln Town as well as Crewe. His last goal came against Plymouth on Saturday, although it would prove to be just a consolation goal. At 7/4 to score in 90 minutes with SkyBet, it would be in Rovers’ interests not to allow him the chance to get hold of the ball – interestingly this is the same odds SkyBet are listing for Donnelly to score in 90 minutes.
Other notable players in the Mansfield side include former Tranmere men Jamie McGuire, who spent his youth career with Rovers but left without making a first team appearance and Junior Brown, who is perhaps most famous amongst Rovers fans for his sending off on the final day of last season against Bradford.
Around the League:
Cheltenham vs Cambridge: With Cheltenham desperate for points and Cambridge keen to avoid any end of season relegation drama both teams will be keen to win this. Cheltenham will start this game bottom of the table with Tranmere hoping Cambridge, fresh from a draw against Stanley, will keep them there.
Hartlepool vs Accrington: Hartlepool’s unbeaten run came to an end over Easter and since then have suffered another defeat. Ronnie Moore’s side will be keen to resurrect their survival push whilst Stanley are sitting relatively safe in midtable.
York City vs Morecambe: Both teams head into this following wins at the weekend. Whilst a playoff push is probably a little unrealistic for Morecambe they will want to finish the season strongly while York are not quite safe and will be looking to secure all three points.
Burton Albion vs Carlisle: This game will be played on Wednesday and both teams are looking to build on the weekend’s wins. Burton will hope to step a closer to securing promotion before the end of the season whilst Carlisle will want to put more space between themselves and the relegation battle.
My Predictions:
Phil Brown highlighted our weakness when it comes to not marking the posts in his post-match comments after his team successfully exploited that flaw on Saturday. If I were Micky Adams’ training this week would have been working out how we mark set pieces – something none of coaching seems to have made an effort to do. However we only lost by a goal; we still managed to dominate possession and recorded almost as many shots as the home side (according to BBC). This all suggests Saturday’s team is not a million miles away (haven’t we said this all season?). Providing all those that are ill return my XI would be as follows:
Fon Williams
Donacien Ihiekwe Thompson Holmes
Myrie-Williams Power Jennings Green
Odejayi Donnelly
By all accounts Laird did well on Saturday and almost scored the equaliser but we need to attack and I feel replacing him with Green would offer more going forward. Donnelly deserves to be starting up front regardless of his weekend snapchat antics – he can score goals, and we need them. Holmes at LB is a controversial one given we have two LB’s at the club already but Holmes’ commitment to the cause and drive means he has to be on the pitch motivating the players and he’s a more than competent LB.
My Score Prediction? Tranmere to win 2-1. Still searching for that elusive clean sheet but a strong confident start will see us get a goal to settle the nerves before snatching all 3 points!
Tranmere 2-1 is 10/1 with SkyBet
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14/04/2015 00:09
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