TRANMERE fear they could lose experienced and influential defender Ian Goodison to a knee injury as they prepare for the League One visit to MK Dons this weekend.
However, manager Les Parry is taking steps to ensure Rovers don’t lose their defensive bearings in the way they did after Goodison limped out of the 3-3 draw with Walsall last Saturday.
A failure of on-the-pitch leadership and communication saw Tranmere surrender a two goal lead to the division’s bottom team following the Jamaican centre-back’s 76th minute departure.
Parry admitted: “Ian’s knee is causing us a little bit of concern. We will need to see how it settles but he might be a problem for us at the weekend.”
Tranmere have defensive cover in place for Goodison after signing Irish centre-back Mark McChrystal last week. Marlon Broomes is likely be available once more after sitting out the weekend with a virus.
The Prenton Park coaching staff will also be putting the focus on improving the vocal interaction beween players on the field – an area in which Parry admits, his team are too quiet for their own good.
Parry said: “We have to learn from Saturday and do some work on closing games down. We will try to show the lads where we think they could have done better, so they improve.”
The manager says he is prepared to recruit outside help to improve the communication in the side and develop leadership on the pitch.
Parry and his coaching staff studied a recording of the Walsall game in which Tranmere retreated deep into defence after their 3-1 advantage was cut in half by a Jon Macken goal on 85 minutes and wiped out by an injury time equaliser from Andy Butler.
Parry said: “I appreciate that fans think the instructions come from the bench but in situations where there is only 10 minutes to go you can scream all you want onto the pitch, the effect is minimal.
“You need someone on the pitch to take control and we need to communicate better.
“We are a quiet side. We have a lot of quiet people in the squad and that is something we are going to address.”
