Cheltenham (h)

TRANMERE ROVERS v Cheltenham Town

Saturday 19th September 2020

@Prenton Park

Tranmere search for their first league win of the season after another week of successful recruitment, will the signings be enough to answer the questions a visible lack of creativity is starting to pose? 

In preparation for the next Tranmere Rovers fixture, Mike Jackson has been able to bolster his squad with two signatures. Blackpool’s 33-year-old fast and tricky winger Liam Feeney has signed a season long loan deal as well as Swindon Town’s forward Kaiyne Woolery, much to the disappointment of Town manager Richard Wellens ‘This move isn’t good for his career’ fortunately Kaiyne and the Tranmere faithful disagree completely.

The ‘super white’s’ next outing is at Prenton Park, at home to Cheltenham Town who in their previous league fixture were beaten 2-1 at home to Morecambe. This fixture will pose further questions to the Tranmere defence yet the real weakness last time out was the forwards lack of creation. With the signings of Feeney and Woolery, Mike Jackson will be aiming to see improvements in his team’s attacking play. Last season, experienced right winger Liam Feeney achieved the highest amount of assists in the football league with a huge 15 assists in 35 league one outings. Kaiyne Woolery on the other hand is a forward who excels on the left wing, he can also play on the right as well as in behind the striker, the 25-year-old attacker provided 9 goal involvements in 34 league two games last season. Thus, these two signings aren’t shy in front of goal and have a great eye for a successful forward pass and it is now time for them to show their qualities in a white’s shirt in front of the ‘SWA’. Again the recruitment has been praised whilst opposition fans have been gutted with player losses, this is to the great excitement of Tranmere fans.

Despite all the good news, there is some bad in terms of injuries. Corey Blackett-Taylor remains on the sidelines with a hamstring injury and Morgan Ferrier will also be unable to feature. All other squad members are available for selection.

Feeney and Woolery’s first Prenton Park appearance may come this Saturday, against Michael Duff’s ‘Robins’. Last season, they finished in a successful play-off position of 4th. Their top goalscorer was Ryan Broom with eight goals, to the disappointment of Cheltenham fans he would leave for Peterborough United in the summer of 2020. In the hope of replacing his goals, Duff added Northampton Town’s 34-year-old striker Andy Williams to his squad whilst also securing the signatures of: Lewis Freestone, Liam Sercombe, Max Harris and Matty Blair on permanent free transfers. Matty Blair being a right midfielder signed from Doncaster Rovers with the hope of providing Williams with assists and threatening League Two defences with his pace and trickery. On season long loans, manager Michael Duff was also able to secure the signatures of: Finn Azaz, Joshua Grithifs and Elliot Bonds. Bonds has featured alongside former Tranmere midfielder Niell Danns at international level for Guyana. The 20-year-old midfielder from London came through the football ranks at Reading, Brentford and Dagenham’s academy systems before signing for Hull City in 2019. The young midfielder has appeared for Guyana on seven occasions, including appearances in the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Thus, Jackson’s side will have to remain solid and stable in their defensive play and use the new recruitments to attack their opponents defence in the search of goals.

My prediction:

Tranmere eleven – Davies, O’Connor, Ellis, Clarke, Ridehalgh, Morris, Spearing, Banks, Woolery, Khan, Vaughan.

Score – Tranmere 2 Cheltenham 0

Tranmere v Cheltenham record statistics:

Played – 13.

Won – 5.

Drew – 2.

Lost – 6.

The last Tranmere v Cheltenham game was played at Cheltenham’s Johnny-Rocks stadium and resulted in a 3-1 win for the ‘whites’.

Quotes from ,Tranmere manager, Mike Jackson’s pre-match press conference:

‘The new signing Kaiyne Woolery ruined my summer when he scored in our national league play off final defeat against Forest Green Rovers, he’s our player now and it is time for him to win another promotion with another club’

‘We’re very happy with these two signings, it is a showing of our successful recruitment, we want to build a football team that Tranmere fans are proud of’