Well Joey that was an entertaining and fast and furious game, what are your emotions at full time?
I'm a little disappointed we haven't won the game. On the flip side of that you always know it's going to be a tough place to come. Tranmere are fighting to get promoted like ourselves. At half time I could hear Micky (Mellon) screaming through the changing room walls because we came to an away stadium with everything at stake.
I thought (in the) first half we showed such a level of maturity and control as a team but again without creating that goal-scoring moment or chance and then to find ourselves a goal down against the run of play and against a team who don't open up much I was worried about the situation at that point.
Tranmere had got what they wanted which was a lead and they could sit back on it. They've been well versed in that over the course of the season. It's a major part as to why they've been successful.
But we score a great goal and get back in it and at that point, there was only one team trying to push on and win. Unfortunately, today we couldn’t find that winner although we kept plugging away.
I think you had 67 per cent possession and you forced 12 corners. Were you surprised you didn’t create more chances with all that pressure?
A little bit, but you have to give Tranmere credit. They defended their box really well. The main part of the team is the back four and the keeper and the two lads who sit in front.
They’ve managed in the midst of them not scoring too many goals themselves to grind out loads of one-nils and certainly scorelines that haven’t been full of goals but full of good defensive performances.
As I say when we went a goal down it was going to be a tough task because they’re so good defensively. Again, credit to our lads they climbed off the canvas. A superb goal from young Bill (Elliot Anderson) and then we just needed that little bit (more).
Chances fell to people but it wasn’t that magical winning goal that I think warranted the amount of control and territory we had. I thought we were definitely the better side in so many departments.
It’s a good point at a promotion rival, It would have been three but it could have been none due to the chance they had when they were 1-0 up.
How do you assess their goal coming from the goalkeeper’s clearance?
It’s the old Gary Owen, isn’t it? He’s actually done everyone, Joe Murphy, because he’s slipped as it’s come back to him. The two lads at the back tried to nick another five or six yards and then he’s managed to make an incredible connection with it. It’s caught the wind and swirled in between. To be fair to Hemmings, I thought his first touch was superb and it was a really good finish to beat Belly.
It was a bit of a smash-and-grab and against the run of play. They had virtually no entries into our final third. It was a very strange game. It was almost like we were the home side, especially with that magnificent away following. It felt like we had more fans in the stadium than them.
But as I say an away point after we picked up three last weekend. Five to play. I know everyone is kind of playing each other at the moment. We’ve just got to keep trying to get maximum points out of every matchday.
Real composure from Elliot for the equaliser…
I challenged him in the press when I said he needed to add in that final bit with goals and he’s come up with a really good goal today. I thought it was a superb first touch to find lots of space in the box and I think that was due to his balance and football ability.
He’s still got a lot to do but then finishes with his weaker foot, if he has one, and the keeper for them has absolutely no chance of getting it.
At that point you’re like ok here we go. You can feel it on the lads. You can feel it on them because we had a lot of ball, they were tiring and getting deeper. Credit to them, they defended their goal manfully and defended their 18-yard box.
They’ll be delighted with a point whereas we’re disappointed we haven’t taken all three.
There were some interesting scores today in League Two. You’re sixth going into two games over Easter. Two games to look forward to.
We’ve got five games left. Three at home, two away. For us, it’s all out in front of us. Some teams have picked up points, others haven’t and that’s the nature of the league. But again we control our destiny.
We play Salford at home and then Port Vale away. Then Forest Green, Rochdale and Scunthorpe. We feel like we can win any game at the moment. To come to a fellow promotion-chasing side. A side that are in the top six of the division and to control the game, as you said late 60s in terms of possession. We’ll be working this week on creating more with that possession once we get in the final third.
As I say, this team is in its evolutionary stage but I’m really pleased with the level of maturity shown by the team today.
Great to have Josh Grant and Nick Anderton on the bench. Antony Evans, how close was he to featuring today?
If you asked him, he was desperate to be involved. But we just felt after the Oldham game where we risked him and picked up an injury. That’s what people are missing with us. Clarkey’s getting back to fitness. Nick Anderton is back on the bench today. We left Ryan Loft and Cian Harries out. We left Sion Spence out, he didn’t travel. So, the depth in our squad is there.
You’re looking at Josh Grant coming back, a big player for us. Trevor Clarke who I thought was superb again getting back to fitness. Antony Evans, games like today are made for Evo. Free kicks, set play, and even from open play he can produce a match-winning moment.
He’ll train this week hopefully and come back into the matchday squad. As I say five, seven or eight to play who knows, but we’re just getting stronger and stronger as a group. As I say hopefully we can pick up on Good Friday at our place. Packed Mem again. Salford’s season probably on the line. I haven’t seen their result today but if they’ve won they’re in the play-off picture again. They need every point they can so it sets up for a good encounter.
Joey, you mentioned in that first half you had a lot of control. Just that final ball was missing or it was slightly overplayed at times. Is there a way you can remedy that going into the last five games of the season?
Probably not, no. I’d need 100 million to spend, that’s how the top boys do it. That’s why you pay what you pay for strikers. But for us, you have to give them credit. They are well drilled. They’re a back four with two sitters in front. They don’t really play high due to their age and mobility.
It’s tough to play against a team that sits in. for me I felt we rushed our work a little bit in the final third. I thought we could have built more pressure waves. We’ll review the game and deconstruct it for the boys and learn the lessons we can.
I didn’t expect it to be that easy. I thought they’d have more quality and fight in them. But again it’s a sign of our progress. When we played them at the Mem, it was a far tighter affair. At this moment in time, I think we’ve shown again just what a team we’re turning into.
We need that final third and those goals, but again it’s an evolutionary stage and as I say we’ll just keep getting better and better as the season comes because we’ve got a young fit and hungry team.
You mentioned Trevor Clarke on the left, his performance was really strong. I thought as well on the right side as well Luca Hoole was magnificent, his role in the goal was crucial, reacting to the second ball. In an attacking sense, how much has his development grown this season?
Yeah, he’s really come on. As I say, you could see from the first day of pre-season he had something about him. But I wouldn’t have thought in his or our wildest dreams we’d have thought he’d do as well and develop as well as he has.
To become a mainstay in the team at 19. He signs a new deal. You never know how that’s going to go with young players but Hooley is such a good lad and he wants to learn all the time. He’s working with the coaches, always working on his game. A superb professional and his performance are mirroring that now.
He’s got an enormous future in the game if he keeps his head on his shoulders and keeps progressing. You look at that backline, Hooley 19. Connor 20. James Connolly 20, and then Trevor Clarke is the veteran in the backline at 25 or 24.
If you take Belly, Couttsy and Sam Finley out of the team, we’re a very young side. The average age is probably in the early 20s. Again this league is more a senior citizen kind of league. More experience. You see that from (Nathaniel) Knight-Percival and (Peter) Clarke today who have probably got 1500 league appearances between them.
They can make it difficult for you. They were time-wasting after 29 minutes and lying down. It’s all part of the gamesmanship. The dark arts that our lads have to learn.
Thirty minutes for Josh Grant today after a lengthy absence with injury. How important is his versatility and his football brain going to be in the last five games of the season if you can keep him fit and manage his load correctly?
Josh is huge. He’s had a few setbacks. It’s disrupted his season and that’s disrupted us. When Josh, Sam Nich and Sam Finley were playing together down that left-hand side it was a major source of our creative inspiration. Josh has had a 8/9-week layoff. Obviously, we’ve got to police him back in as safely as we can. Not just for this season. He’s just a big player for us going forward.
But I was really delighted to see him back out there today. You have Trev who goes on his left foot on a different slant and then you can see Josh cutting in on his right foot, giving you a completely different look from that position.
They’re great options to have. Don’t forget arguably the most consistent player since the turn of the year is missing as well in Nick Anderton. Nick’s been superb at left-back. He’s done the job manfully. We’ve managed it with Nick being out to maintain momentum and the good thing for us is those guys are back on the horizon.
Arguably our talisman in Antony Evans for a major part of the season, it looks like we’re about to get him back and that should be like a new signing in the backend of this season.
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