LES PARRY insists he is more strongly motivated by the opportunity to scratch away a persistent itch than earning Tranmere a shot at FA Cup glory when they take on Aldershot Town tonight.

The prize at stake for the winners of the replay at the Recreation Ground (kick-off 7.45pm) is a third round tie at home to Premier League club Wolves next month. It promises the kind of payday that will be warmly welcomed by the Wirral club, facing tough challenges in the financial department as well as on the field.

But caretaker manager Parry and his players admit they are not thinking beyond the task of putting back-to-back wins together for the first time since the temporary regime took charge of team affairs eight weeks and 12 games ago.

Parry said: “We still have not had consecutive wins since we took over and that is the aim now. Getting back-to-back wins is a bee in my bonnet.

“I have lots of bees in my bonnet and we have been nibbling away at them, getting rid of them one by one. This is the one I want to get next.”

Parry added: “The fact that the winners of the replay play at home to Wolves won’t have a bearing on this game. The result is more important. The result is everything to me.”

The “nibbling away” process Parry refers to has seen Tranmere climb off the foot of the League One table after losing only two of the last eight games. Last Saturday’s 1-0 home win over Brentford extended Rovers’ unbeaten run to four games, which included the goalless draw with League Two promotion chasers Aldershot at Prenton Park 10 days ago.

Confidence should have been boosted since then by a 3-3 draw at big spending Huddersfield last Tuesday followed by the solid and merited victory over Brentford.

Parry said: “Playing well without getting results gives you a little bit of confidence. Getting results while playing poorly also give you a little bit of confidence.

“But playing well and getting results is massive and that’s what we’ve been doing.”

The long serving physiotherapist and coaches Shaun Garnett and Wayne Allison understand the size of the task they face tonight in the light of the Shots’ composed and disciplined performance at Prenton Park.

“Aldershot played some good football here and were really well organised,” Parry said. “They knew what they had to do and got what they came for, which was the result.

“Okay we had some good chances that day and we probably should have won the game but we did not do it. We have to go down there and do what they did to us.”

Parry added: “I think Aldershot will have to open up a little bit because they are at home. But I think they will treat us with the respect we earned in the first game. They will be aware of the threat we carry.”

Tranmere have no fresh injury concerns after the weekend and expect club skipper Ian Goodison to play through the discomfort of back problem once again at the heart of the defence.

Striker Ian Thomas-Moore played through the Brentford game with a foot injury he sustained at Huddersfield a week ago and should be fit enough to start again.

Parry admits that from a physiotherapist’s point of view, he will be relieved to see Rovers complete a run of midweek fixtures tonight.

He said: “We have played two games a week for the last month and those games, together with the travelling involved, impacts on the work we can do with the core of players who are involved in every match.

“We go easy on them in training and work hard with the lads who have not played to maintain their fitness.”

Aldershot manager Kevin Dillon says he is looking for a significant improvement on the performance that earned his side a fortunate 1-0 home win over Chesterfield in League Two on Saturday.

“Overall it was a poor performance and Chesterfield were unlucky to lose the game,” Dillon said.