Barlow: "We Didn’t Play As Well As We Normally Do"

Total Tranmere spoke to a disappointed Rovers Masters player and captain Stuart Barlow following their defeat at the Echo Arena in the Mersey Masters after two straight defeats in the competition.......

Tranmere Rovers' Masters side tonight failed to qualify for the National Finals for the first time since their introduction to the competition three years ago.

In a disappointing evening at the Echo Arena for Rovers fans, Tranmere were first defeated 3-1 by Wigan Athletic, with Andy Lyons netting twice for the Latics, before an Owen Coyle inspired Bolton beat Rovers 4-3.

Following their elimination, Tranmere striker Stuart Barlow, who failed to score in the competition for the first time, expressed his disappointment of the way Rovers had performed on the night.

He told Total Tranmere....

"We didn’t play as well as we normally do.  We normally take the lead and then we can keep the ball and command the game, but we just felt we were chasing it tonight.  There’s some good teams out there tonight and some better players.  Last year everybody seemed to fold – we did play well last year but they let us win, but this year it’s been really hard.  There’s some good players out there tonight on show".

However, the striker, famed for his hatrick against Southampton that helped Tranmere come from 3-0 down to win 4-3 in an F.A. Cup fifth round replay in 2001, denied that losing important players such as John Actherberg, Georges Santos and Shaun Garnett had a negative effect on his side's performance.

"It looks that way because we haven’t won, it’s easy to say that but each year’s different.  We all get a little bit older and other players step in, but those lads that came in are fantastic players – Davey Challinor, Nicko [Eric Nixon] and Scott Taylor.  It’s not easy when your champions, there’s more pressure on that lads who come in.  We didn’t play so well as a team so we’re disappointed".

He continued.......

"We didn't really change our tactics from previous years.  Instead, what we found is the teams we play tend to sit back against us and when normally they attack and that leaves the space behind so maybe slightly different tactics but we won’t change our way of playing – we’ll try and keep the ball and try and create chances and Ged was disappointed in the first game, he’s hit about three over the bar, if they go in it’s a different ball game.  Straight away if you lose the first game you’re always chasing so it was difficult tonight, but fair play to the teams who beat us.  We played a little bit better second half but on the whole we’re a bit disappointed".