Nigel Adkins has said his Tranmere Rovers side are up for a serious challenge as they play Gillingham this weekend.
The Prenton Park club come into the match fresh after claiming a late win at home to bottom-placed side Sutton United through Rob Apter.
It put Tranmere up to 19th place in League Two, now 16 points clear of the relegation zone with ten games to go.
Speaking to club media ahead of the match at Priestfield, Rovers boss Nigel Adkins praised his team’s effort against Sutton following their loss to Swindon Town.
He said: “The way the players responded, reacted was exceptional. The ball wasn’t in play for that long, it was stop start.
“On reflection we could have scored several more goals when we think about Connor Jennings’ missed penalty, the penalty that should have been. The goalkeeper made some unbelievable saves.”
Steven Arnold saved 11 shots for The Yellows, with the 34-year-old keeping Tranmere shut out until the 87th minute.
Rovers face a Gillingham side firmly in the play-off hunt, but faced a slip-up in midweek losing 2-0 to Barrow, after beating Salford City away last weekend.
Stephen Clemence’s team are in ninth place, but only out of the top seven through having an inferior goal difference to Walsall and Morecambe.
When asked what he expected in Kent, the former Southampton boss added: “We know going down there, it’s going to be a challenge like every game is, but we know that we can win away from home.
“We know we’ve got a spirit about ourselves, we’ve got goals in the team.
“From my point of view, we know it’s going to be a challenging game but it’s one that we’re really looking forward to.”
The reverse fixture saw Tranmere coast to a 3-1 win in Birkenhead, with Apter claiming a brace and Connor Jennings also on the scoresheet. Connor Mahoney claimed a late consolation for Gills in November.
Writer’s View
Tranmere are 99.9% safe from the drop, so would have very little to play for the rest of the season. The rest of the campaign does have very tough matches for them, so it is about navigating those games against Mansfield Town and Wrexham to build a solid platform to go into next season.
Gillingham have struggled for goals this season, having scored the joint least this season with 34. This match should be plain sailing for them with Tranmere having the second worst away record in the league. Clemence’s side need to reverse their current goal difference of -7 to avoid any potential heartbreak if it comes down to the wire.
