Andy Crosby says he is confident ahead of Tranmere Rovers’ League Two test against in-form MK Dons at Prenton Park on Saturday.
Tranmere come into the contest after a 3-2 victory over Cheltenham, their second win in a run of three consecutive home games, but the visitors boasting the strongest away form in the division.
Looking to make it three on the bounce, Crosby believes those results have given his side a solid foundation heading into the weekend.
He said: “When you’ve not won at home for so long, you can almost understand the anxiety a little bit and the nervousness on the pitch and around the stadium as well.
“But to win both home games was really pleasing and when you’ve got three on the trail at home it’s really important that you give yourself that base for tomorrow’s game.”
Crosby also sees tomorrow as an opportunity to start taking points off the league’s top sides, following their narrow 3-2 defeat to table topping Swindon.
He said: “We’re going to the game in a more confident mood than we have done, winning two home games on the trot gives us something to build on and try and add another layer to it.
“It’s a game we’re looking forward to against one of the teams who will certainly be expected to challenge for automatic promotion, but it’s about time that we beat one of the so called favourites in the league.
“Four of our five defeats have come against teams who are really up there challenging, so we’ve got to find a way of trying to beat one of those teams.
“There’s always areas where we think, if we’d have done that a little bit better we’d have done more than push them.
“So we’re prepared for MK Don’s strength and what they are likely to do, they’ve got a lot of good players, a lot of attacking players who they brought in in the summer and they’ve got a way of playing that we need to be ready for.”
But Crosby is also conscious of the test MK Dons will bring as the league’s top scorers, emphasising the importance of coherency between his side in their task to cope with their threat.
He said: “We need the team to do all aspects of their job.
“It’s never the striker’s job to score goals and the defender’s job just to stop them.
“It’s a collective thing, both with and without the ball and certainly in transitional moments is one of the areas that we certainly need to get better at when we turn the ball over and we’re defending our own goal.
“There’s some parts of our defending which are really good, we have to continue with that, but there’s certain things that we need to improve on, as there is in possession as well.
“We have scored 26 goals, which I think puts us in the top six.
“But we should have scored more and everyone’s going to say the same thing now after the amount of games we’ve played that we’ve missed opportunities, they’re here there and everywhere, so it’s just about constant improvement.”
Tranmere will be without Ethan Bristow, who is due to re-join the squad on Monday after completing his rehabilitation. Full back Leo O’Connor faces a longer spell out following a setback that will keep him side-lined for 10-12 weeks.
A win for Rovers could move them eight points clear of the relegation zone, while MK Dons could climb to the top of the league if results elsewhere go their way.
