Marcus gives us his preview ahead of Tranmere in the Checkatrade Trophy
Tonight at 7pm we face Tranmere Rovers in the Checkatrade Trophy group stages. Tranmere are currently in 7th position in League Two after promotion from the Conference last season. They've only lost twice in the league this season and are unbeaten in their last three games with the two most recent games resulting in a home win against Lincoln and a 4-3 away win at Morecambe. Their previous fixture in this competition was at home to Crewe but they lost that 4-3.
Form(most recent first)
WWDLW
Top Scorer
James Norwood with eight goals from eleven appearances. Norwood joined Tranmere from Forest Green where he'd scored 48 goals in 161 games.
Clean Sheets
5 in all competitions.
Squad News
Both Micky Mellon and John Askey may look to use this game as an opportunity for fringe players.
This certainly is an interesting game against a manager who left this stadium a couple of years ago after having done a great job in getting us up and keeping us. He also brought Manchester United to us for the first time in our history and Chelsea who we pushed pretty much all the way to the 90th minute. Another of his feats was to give us our first cup victory against top flight opponents in an away fixture when his League Two winning team unceremoniously dumped Leicester City out of the League Cup. He's one of the few managers who left this club with his head held high with Shrewsbury Town in a much better position than when he arrived. That includes bringing in some of last seasons best players like Abu Ogogo Shaun Whalley and Mat Sadler!
So I'm thankful for what Micky did but that has to go by the wayside when tonight's game begins. He brings with him Larnell Cole and Mark Ellis who both played under Micky for Shrewsbury Town. Hopefully, all will receive a warm round of applause for their efforts.