Rovers boss Ronnie Moore spoke to his club's official website ahead of his side's League One match against Carlisle at Prenton Park on Saturday afternoon, Moore first looking back on Tranmere's 3-0 win at Brunton Park early in the season:
“We are looking forward to the game, fond memories of earlier in the season against Carlisle, I have got fond memories and I am sure Andy Robinson will have fond memories of it as well. It was a fantastic hat-trick and hopefully he can get us another one because I don’t think this is going to be an easy game. If our lads come into this game thinking that it is Carlisle and they are struggling and we only have to turn up because we are top of the league then we will get beat, there is no doubt about that.
“We have got to treat every game we play now as if they are top of the league because anybody in this league is capable of beating anybody. Playing a side who are top of the league brings that extra 20% I think out of teams because they want the scalp, everybody wants to beat you and I am sure Carlisle are no different to that. They got a draw on Saturday, a young kid (Dave Symington) came on and smashed one from about 35 yards, a fantastic strike. So, we don’t want to be giving away too many set-plays around our box if he is playing.
“But, they have got good players and the manager (Greg Abbott) has done a tremendous job when you look at the resources that he has got to try to attract people in there. So, this is going to be a tricky game for us. Anybody can beat anybody, Yeovil got a tremendous result in midweek, Leyton Orient got a good result. But, when you have got those points in the bag it puts added pressure on all the other teams because they know they have to win.
“MK Dons had three games in hand but if they had won all three they still would have been four points off us. So, it just puts added pressure on teams playing that they really have to win. When you know that we have got points in hand on everybody it puts added pressure on, but there are still a lot of twists and turns to come, there is no doubt about that, this league is so tight it will go right to the wire I think.”
In team news for Rovers tomorrow they have one player definitely missing through injury, in midfielder James Wallace who is still absent with a troublesome knee injury, while they also have doubts over three others. That trio being defender Michael Kay, striker Adam McGurk and winger Andy Robinson who were all involved in a car crash on Tuesday and who have been suffering from sore backs and whiplash ever since.
On the brighter side for Ronnie Moore though striker Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro is expected to be fit after resuming training this week following a rib injury, while winger Abdulai Bell-Baggie, who had been out with a knee problem, played the full 120 minutes of a Cheshire Senior Cup 4-2 extra-time win over Nantwich Town on Wednesday. Then finally for Tranmere former Carlisle-loanee winger Michael O’Halloran is available after extending his loan deal from Bolton Wanderers until the end of the season.
The referee for tomorrow's match is Tony Harrington from Hartlepool and he will be assisted down the lines by two Lancashire FA men in Peter Gooch from Wigan and Paul Marsden from Leyland. Meanwhile the fourth official is James Wilson from Stockport.