Defender Aaron McGowan has insisted Tranmere are capable of pushing in to a play-off position in the second half of the season ahead of hosting table-toppers Bromley tomorrow.
McGowan joined as a free agent in October after leaving Northampton Town and has extended his stay at Prenton Park until the end of the season after 11 appearances in League Two.
Tranmere are now 17th and eight points off the play-off positions.
Whilst the club have been looking over their shoulder at the drop zone during the past few seasons, McGowan believes the group have enough quality to push further up the table.
He said: “There’s no question in my mind that we’ve got the quality in there to go and have a late push, why not? Over the past few years, we’ve as a club been like, ‘that doesn’t matter’.
“This is a new season, new group. We need to just mentally get our head around that we’re coming.”
Whilst there’s some sizeable traffic in between Rovers and a shot at promotion, McGowan highlighted how across all tiers of English football there is little to separate teams.
He said: “I think the one thing that stands out right across all four leagues is that it’s really tight.
“Normally by now at a halfway point, they’ve played out and you know who’s play-offs, midtable. I think weirdly this season, all four leagues right across the board are tight, and that’s showing that there’s a lot of ambition at all the clubs.”
Bromley have won six games in a row and find themselves two points clear atop League Two under Andy Woodman.
On the visitors, McGowan said: “I don’t think many football clubs this season have came up against them and had good performances. They’ve got a really good manager, they play the way they play, it’s working.
“That’s why their top of the league, we’ve got to be ready because all credit goes to them, they are where they are for a reason, so we need to step up and be ready for the fight.”
Bromley have become a serial set-piece threat this season, scoring more goals from dead ball opportunities than open play.
A former teammate of McGowan’s, midfielder Mitch Pinnock, is at the heart of Bromley’s set-piece strategy since joining in the summer and the 29-year-old defender understands what his colleague of five years will bring to the game.
McGowan said: “I think it’s clear as day that Mitch takes every single long throw, set piece, and he will want to put the ball in your box on every opportunity.
“They’ve got two big target men up front, and they work off seconds, the midfielders are keen runners, and if we don’t deal with that, we won’t get anything out of this game.”
