Moore convinced his side will finish in the play-offs

Mar 31 2008 by Nick Hilton, Liverpool Daily Post

THERE are no faint hearts in the Prenton Park dressing room as Tranmere approach the decisive final month of the League One promotion race, says Ronnie Moore.

The manager insists players and staff remain solid in the conviction that Rovers can secure a play-off spot after returning to winning ways over the weekend.

“I think there is a big belief in the camp that we are capable of finishing in the top six,” Moore said. “The players believe it and I believe it. We are up to the job of getting the points we need, home and away, in the last five games.”

Tranmere regained a foothold in the play-off zone over the weekend thanks to a 2-1 home win over Swindon on Friday night. Rivals Nottingham Forest, Brighton, Leeds, Leyton Orient and Walsall all lost ground after failing to post victories of their own.

The success over Swindon wiped away some of the disappointment from an Easter Monday defeat to relegation favourites Bournemouth.

Moore said: “You have to grind out results in a situation like this and that is exactly what we did on Friday night. It was a battling performance and it wasn’t pretty in the second half.

“We all want to win. It would be great to talk about how brilliantly we had played and I would love to hear people shouting ‘Ole!’ at the way we passed and moved the ball about.

“But it isn’t going to happen at this stage. We can’t expect to cruise through games. There will be times, home and away when teams are going to put us under pressure, as Swindon did in the second half, and it is how we cope with that pressure that matters.”

Rovers sprinted into a 2-0 lead at half-time thanks to goals by Steve Jennings and Chris Greenacre. But they had to survive an anxious final half-hour after Swindon cut the deficit with a 63rd minute goal by Craig Easton.

Tranmere’s starting line-up against Swindon was the same one that performed below par at Dean Court. Moore said: “I picked the same team against Swindon because it would have been harsh to pull one individual out after Bournemouth. Why should one carry the can for everyone else?

“I asked them to go out and show that Bournemouth was a one-off.

“I watched a recording of the game down there and we have a lot of possession and a lot of chances that day. I still believe that if Steve Jennings had put away his chance just after half-time we could have turned the game around (from 2-0 down) and gone on to win it.

“I don’t think people should look too deeply into that Bournemouth result. The big thing for me is that we bounced back. It is history. What we do now is try to make sure we win our five remaining games.”

Three of those games are against teams also chasing a place in the play-offs, starting with Saturday’s visit to Walsall. Tranmere play host to Forest the following Saturday, April 12 and Southend visit Prenton Park on Saturday, April 26.

Moore said: “There are some cracking games to come, none more so than Walsall.

“I know other teams have games in hand on us but they all have to play each other. We are going to have a big say in what happens.

“We are capable of getting the results we need, home and away.

“We have the quality in the squad to do it. But we know we can’t afford to have too many games that we don’t win.”

Moore was relieved to see his players come through Friday night’s game without collecting a booking. Rovers have three players on nine yellow cards – Antony Kay, and Steve Jennings and Paul McLaren – and a 10th caution before April 13, a period covering the Walsall and Forest games, would result in a two match suspension.

“The players had to be disciplined on Friday and I think they were,” Moore said. “In the conditions it would have been easy for players to go sliding into tackles. We spoke about it beforehand and they knew what was required.”