MARK MxCHRYSTAL’S enforced watching brief has convinced him that Tranmere are capable of sustaining their challenge for a play-off spot right through to the end of the season.
The Irish central defender is back in contention for a first team spot after missing the best part of two months with a foot injury.
He could be in line for a League One recall this weekend when Rovers test their promotion ambitions with a game against second placed Sheffield Wednesday at Prenton Park.
“This team have done very well,” McCrystal said. “I watched a lot of games from up on high in the stands and you see a lot more from up there than at pitch level. You see how things develop and how teams play – and I think we have progressed pretty well.”
That progress stalled a little over the last four games, with Tranmere losing at Scunthorpe and drawing at home to Colchester United in the league while going out of two knockout competitions, the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy at the hands of Chesterfield – a game in which McChrystal played – and out of the FA Cup at home to Cheltenham last Saturday.
McChrystal, however, is confident Tranmere can return to the form and momentum that lifted them up the League One table, posting nine clean sheets in the programme so far.
McChrystal said: “The more clean sheets we keep the better. Goals scored don’t win games on their own, its clean sheets that win them too.
“If we can continue our record of keeping clean sheets then we have a chance of getting into the play-offs and being promoted this season.
“We do defend from the front in this team. Our midfielders work very hard in stopping the opposition. We are a very solid side and our strength is teamwork. I don’t think any one individual can take credit.”
McChrystal added: “We are a third of the way through the league programme and it looks as if anyone can beat anyone else in this division. Charlton Athletic are going very well at the top but outside of that no team is outstanding.
“If we can keep the momentum going past the halfway point then I think things can start to develop for us as the table widens out a bit.”
Meanwhile Wednesday manager GaryŠMegson is facing up to a defensive reshuffleŠ as he looks towards Saturday’s game against Tranmere.
Rob Jones is back in training – which means the manager’s hopes of a quick return for the captain look like being fulfilled after he missed the FA Cup win at Morecambe last weekend.
With Jones likely to bounce back after minor surgery on his nose, Reda Johnson could well be moved from centre-half to left-back.
If Johnson stays in, then that would be at the expense of Julian Bennett and Mark Reynold, who have shared the left-back role over the course of the last two games.
