ADAM McGURK’S brief career as an attacking playmaker for Tranmere may be over after just one outing as manager Les Parry reverts back to a tried and tested approach for the FA Cup encounter with Cheltenham Town tomorrow.

Andy Robinson is expected to return to the role in the hole in the first-round tie at Prenton Park after missing the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy defeat at Chesterfield on Wednesday with a fitness problem.

McGurk meanwhile can look forward to returning to the wide left position where he’s made a positive impression through most of this season.

Parry experimented on Wednesday by playing McGurk in the creative role just behind the central striker with Zoumana Bakayogo playing out wide, and was disappointed by the result as Tranmere were beaten 4-3.

“I don’t think we will be trying that again, not after Wednesday,” Parry said.

“It was a necessity on the night. Andy Robinson came in on Tuesday and was so stiff he was moving like an ironing board, so we could not chance playing him.

“We had thought about playing Adam in that position before, because he’s a footballer who sees things – and Zoum was the natural player to go out wide on the left.

“I don’t think it worked particularly well to be quite honest.

“The result and the openness of the game would say it did not work well, although you never say never.

“Andy Robinson is fine now and after a couple of days training he’ll be flying on Saturday.”

Parry can also expect to recall Ian Goodison, rested on Wednesday, to the heart of a defence that conceded three headed goals at Chesterfield

Even so, McGurk remains confident of Tranmere’s ability to carve out a result against any opposition in any competition and holds his defensive colleagues in high regard after keeping nine clean sheets in the first 17 games of the League One campaign.

McGurk said: “We are going into every game with confidence high that we can perform well as a unit.

“The main thing is not conceding goals. When we don’t concede we are not going to get beaten and that has to be the basis for any successful team.

“We believe that nine times out of 10 we are going to score. So if we stay solid at the back we will get a good result.

“We went through a dry patch where we did not score many goals but the main thing is we are not conceding.”

Irishman McGurk is anxious to add to his own contribution after notching a first of the season in the 1-1 draw with leaders Charlton Athletic at The Valley last month.

“Hopefully I can pitch in with more goals,” he said. “I do think we have quality going forward.”

A Cup encounter with a Cheltenham side lying third in the League Two table presents Tranmere with a challenge not dissimilar from regular League One games at Prenton Park.

Tranmere’s home form in nine league games so far shows four wins and four draws – three of them goalless.

It is a solid record but McGurk acknowledges there is a little extra expectation on the team’s shoulders up Prenton Park.

McGurk said: “I do believe some people feel extra pressure playing at home.

“We’re expected to win our games here. But if you can’t cope with it you should not be playing football.

“The spirit here is good and there is a slightly different mentality than last season, when we were fighting to make sure we stayed clear of trouble at the other end of the table.

“We genuinely go into every game thinking we can beat anyone.”

Cheltenham manager Mark Yates made more than half a dozen changes to the side for a JPT home tie against Barnet and that ended in a 2-0 defeat on Tuesday but will field a line-up much closer to his regular league side against Tranmere.

Yates said: “Tranmere are a very hard-working team.

“They have a box of tricks that comes out whenever they have a set piece opportunity. They will fancy their chances.

“They made a few changes of the back for the JPT match in midweek and conceded a few goals but we won’t be taking that into account and we won’t be taking our game on Tuesday into account either.

“We’ve just had five away wins on the spin so it does not matter where we play.

“We fancy ourselves home or away but that isn’t underestimating the task at hand.”