Rovers boss Ronnie Moore spoke to his club's official website ahead of his side's League One match against Carlisle at Brunton Park this evening, Moore trying to play down expectations a little after the Whites beat Leyton Orient 3-1 at home on Saturday:
“We have got a good honest bunch of lads, we haven’t achieved anything but we have had a good start. We are going to be really tested now with the games coming up, a lot of them away from home, three on the trot now. Football can change in a week, it is surprising, but we have got to stay positive and stay bright and go and perform like we did on Saturday, if we do that we are going to give anybody a game at this level, that’s for sure, against Leyton Orient you can see what happens when it all clicks.
“Togetherness was there on Saturday, and the fitness levels as well, I thought we were the stronger side on Saturday, both teams had had extra-time in the week but I thought we were the better side by a mile. I thought overall we bossed the game, we have won the game but now we have to take that forward into these away games because that is where we are going to be tested. We have always said at home we are going to be a match for anybody, we have to make sure that our away form improves on last year. We won our first away game in the cup so hopefully we will get a few more.
“Jean-Louis Akpa-Apro for me has underachieved, he is one of those that you wish you had grabbed years ago because he is 27 but he has got electric pace, can finish and he is athletic. I think you will see one or two overhead kicks and flash goals from him because he is an exceptional athlete. I think he can play higher and when I say higher I mean at the top level, but what he has to do is improve his goals tally. He gets a lot of one on ones, he can smash them in from 20 yards out but he can go through three yards out and miss so that is what he has to do better.
“We are trying to get him to finish the one on ones because with his pace at this level he is going to get in there quite often, so if he can improve that then I think we could make a few bob out of him. I don’t want to sell him but I think he has got an exceptional talent and we have been looking for somebody who can get 20 goals a season, and if he doesn’t then I will be disappointed and he should be disappointed.
“We have changed things a little bit, we don’t hoof it, everybody seems to think that I am a hoofer playing long balls so we will have some fun when we go to Oldham with the hoofball. They will be surprised that we are trying to keep the ball on the floor, we are trying to pass it, we are playing 4-4-2 and we are trying to get the wingers crossing balls and we are trying to get full-backs going beyond the wingers. The full-backs got forward on Saturday and there have been good crosses in the box, so we are trying to entertain as well as win.
“People keep telling me that we are always at Carlisle on a Tuesday and never win and that was said to me this morning by the groundsman. I don’t know what the facts are, all I know is that we will be going there trying to win the game, there is no doubt about that. It will be a great playing surface, they are a decent side and they have had a good season last season, they were unlucky not to get in the play-offs, and they got a good result on Saturday.
“So, they are good away games when you look at that one, and then we have got Shrewsbury and then we have got the Aston Villa cup game, so there are three great games for players to want to play. We have got a good set of lads and that is why we swapped and changed a little bit on Saturday to save a few legs, but there are a lot of players here because I will be surprised if we can go with the same side Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday-Tuesday, so it is just handling them the right way. We've got one or two players that have picked up knocks and we've got to be careful with them.”
In team news for the visitors this evening they will be missing three players through injury, while another is not yet fully match-fit. The first absentee being 39-year old centre-half Ian Goodison who is set to be out until October having recently undergone an operation on a tear in his knee cartilage, while left-back Paul Black, 22, is sidelined for another four weeks or so having picked up a thigh strain early this month.
The final player watching from the stands being 23-year old frontman Adam McGurk who is expected to be back in couple of weeks after hurting his thigh, but to a lesser degree, at the same time of pre-season as Black. In better news for Rovers boss Ronnie Moore though centre-half Mark McChrystal, 28, is back available for selection in the matchday squad after picking up a slight groin problem ten days ago.
The last bit of news in the Tranmere camp, bar 18-year old centre-half Will Vaulks today joining our neighbours Workington Reds on a one-month loan deal, being that former Carlisle-loanee left-back Ben Parker is currently training with the club after, according to Moore, turning down a loan move from Leeds to the Wirral at the last minute last season.
Moore yesterday commenting on Parker: “We’re still a little bit short at left-back because Blacky is going to be out for three or four weeks and if anything happens to Zoumana Bakayogo we’re in trouble, so we’re having a look at Parker. He’s having a couple of training sessions with us and we’re trying to see if we can organise a game for Wednesday so we can have a look at him.”
The referee for tonight’s match is Graham Salisbury from Preston and he will be assisted down the lines firstly by his son Michael and then secondly by Thomas Rogers from Darlington. Meanwhile the fourth official is Ross Joyce from Middlesbrough.