Nigel Adkins gave glowing praise to Tranmere Rovers‘ early season progress as his side prepare to travel to Kent this weekend.
The Wirral club have had a great start to the season, with two wins and two draws in their opening League Two fixtures. They have only conceded once, against Carlisle United last time out, and are alongside Notts County as the two teams yet to be beaten in the division.
Rovers face fourth-placed Gillingham at Priestfield on Saturday, seeking to win in Kent for the first time since 2010. Gills lost in their last game away to Doncaster Rovers and were beaten by Peterborough United in the EFL Trophy at the start of the month.
Speaking to club media ahead of the game, Nigel Adkins was pleased with the start his side had made to this campaign. He said: “Obviously when we look at it, we’ve only conceded one goal, undefeated, a good away victory at Carlisle to back up a good performance away at Port Vale.
“We’ve had a little issue with injuries, only having four outfield players on the bench. But we’ve seen the team spirit, the camaraderie, the quality of football.
“So having had a real good pre-season, having recruited well throughout the summer, having kept the group of players from last season, an understanding of the nucleus of the team.
“We’ve started well against higher opposition through pre-season, I know it’s not about the results in pre-season but we took that into the start of the season.”
Having had their game against AFC Wimbledon postponed due to international call-ups, Tranmere Rovers have now had two weeks to prepare for their fixture at Gillingham. Despite having played a game less, The Super Whites occupy 10th in the fourth tier.
Addressing the break his squad has had since playing Carlisle, Adkins added: “The game wasn’t on but we were able to play a practice game here. We can have an 11v11 game amongst ourselves and players returning from injury, we’ve had a few not available for selection, but they’ve been able to train and get themselves back.
“We’ve been able to do some good training, rest some of the players who have had a lot of games, do some good fitness stuff and then try and work on one or two things from a tactical point of view.
“Sam Taylor’s been able to step up his training, Luke Norris has been able to train. Saidou Khan who we brought in from Swindon Town, he’d not played so we’ve had to get him back up to a level of fitness that we’re expecting.”
Mark Bonner’s side welcome Tranmere to Kent in what will be a battle of the league’s two best defences in it’s formative stage. His side have only conceded twice, continuing on from last season’s solidity at the back.
Despite a new manager at Priestfield following the departure of now-Barrow boss Stephen Clemence, Bonner has retained much of last season’s defence. Max Taylor, Shadrach Ogie and Remeao Hutton all started last time out in South Yorkshire with main centre-back Conor Masterson out with tendonitis in his Achilles.
Writer’s View
Nigel Adkins said that his aim with Tranmere Rovers was to gain promotion this season and their start has put them in a positive position to achieve that. Despite an early injury crisis, the break his side has had has enabled multiple players to be back in contention heading to Gillingham and put up a really competitive side against a side expected to challenge at the top of the table.
Goals have been hard to come by for the past two seasons for the Kent club and if Tranmere can gain an early advantage in the game, they could travel back home with all three points. Omari Patrick has had a brilliant start since joining from Sutton United, exemplified by his performance against former club Carlisle. Alongside a return to Sam Taylor and Luke Norris from injury, Adkins has they key parts of his attack available on Saturday.
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