Prenton Park next stop for Pools Playoff Bandwagon

By Albatross
January 16 2004

Hartlepool United travel to the Wirral to take on Tranmere Rovers in what used to be a regular encounter. It will though be our first visit to Prenton Park for a league fixture since 1988. Pools need points to fuel a playoff challenge, but Tranmere have hopes of their own on that front...

Tranmere are seven points and nine places behind Pools, but have a decent home record and are not without hopes of a challenge for glory of their own despite their early season lack of form. After an opening day victory against Brentford, they had to wait until 10 games and almost two months had passed before their next victory - a run that by that time had cost Ray Mathias his job.

Brian Little took over just after a 6-0 mauling by Plymouth, and improved their form to the degree that they have tasted defeat in the league just twice since then - 20 points from 12 games have seen them pull away from the melee at the bottom of the table and join onto the end of the extended battle that sees them just ten points behind 4th placed Barnsley. With Rovers still invovled in FA Cup action after a dramatic victory over bitter rivals Bolton in midweek, it's probably fair to say that Little is doing a pretty good job at Prenton Park....

Rovers are unbeaten at home under Little - their last home defeat came at the hands of local rivals Wrexham in what proved to be Mathias' last game in charge on 27th September. Their last home league match saw them fight out a 2-2 draw with Sheffield Wednesday. While the away victory over Bolton has had the majority of the fans buzzing, it should be remembered that Sam Allardyce had the FA Cup as his lowest priority and fielded a reserve side on Tuesday - and Tranmere still needed extra time to overcome them. There may be a few tired legs after their exertions.

Talking of legs, a broken one is likely to severely reduce Tranny's firepower. Simon Haworth - seven goals this season and joint leading scorer in the league - suffered one in his side's 2-2 draw with Brentford last Saturday. Overall leading scorer Eugene Dadi (9 goals) has been in good form recently though - three in the last week alone - and he may well be partnered up front by Canadian International Ian Hume - scorer of the winner at the Reebok stadium. Little likes to play 5-3-2, and Pools will also need to watch out for Gary Jones coming forward; the midfielder has already clocked up seven goals this season. That does depend though on where Little plays him - Jones was surprisingly moved into the back three against Bolton, with Micky Mellon, Danny Harrison and David Beresford making up the midfield.

Goalscoring has been a bit of a problem this season, and that makes the loss of Haworth an especially hard blow. 28 in 25 league games, the opening day seeing the only time they've scored more than twice in a league game... goals are likely to be at a premium tomorrow, with the Rovers defence having been pretty miserly at Prenton Park.

For Pools, it's looking likely that the on-form Eifion Williams will be fit to play, and then of course there's the question of who will partner him. Joel Porter must be favourite, particularly after Paul Robinson not only failed to impress when he came on as a sub last week but also was rumoured to have been less than complimentary towards Cooper's instructions from the sidelines. Jack Wilkinson is now recovered from his flu that kept him out over the festive period and may get a spot on the bench.

The two big questions facing Cooper are what system to play and who will get the nod on the left. New signing Scott Walker is rumoured to be in line for a start - and with Nelson and Westwood looking secure at the back it's then a question of whether he plays as part of a back three, with Cooper opting to go man for man in the midfield, or takes up the left back spot in a flat back four. Walker's credentials on the flank are mixed judging from the comments of Pars fans - and he'd need to be on his toes against Tranmere's wingback Ryan Taylor, scorer of a wonder goal at the Vic in last season's League Cup.

Being unable to read Cooper's mind I can't do more than speculate - but I won't be surprised to see us going with 3-5-2, Walker as part of a back three, Robson on the left, Barron on the right and Shuker stepping down to the bench. Then again, 4-4-2 would have the effect of forcing the Tranmere wingbacks to play a bit deeper - providing that we can win the battle in midfield with Tinkler and Strachan.

Prediction time then, and I can't help but think this is going to be far from a spectacle as a game. Both sides will want to play a bit of football, but I reckon chances are going to be at a minimum. I'll be optimistic and say that we will see a couple of goals - but that they'll be shared as we draw 1-1, Eifion to continue his run of form.