Tranmere Rovers’ season has somewhat plateaued in recent weeks following a strong start from Nigel Adkins’ side.

Rovers took eight points from their opening four games, with 1-0 and 2-1 wins against Walsall and Carlisle respectively accompanying 0-0 draws away to current league leaders Port Vale and at home to highflyers Notts County. Twelve games into the campaign, how are the Birkenhead based side shaping up?

FORM

Tranmere have been consistent, but not in the way they would have hoped after the good start. The Rovers have only won one game since beating Carlisle, drawing three and losing four in the games following. Successive 3-0 losses was a harsh return to league action after the September international break.

Tranmere managed to end their concerning winless run, beating Bromley 2-1 last Saturday before losing 1-0 to Grimsby in midweek.

Adkins is in “don’t panic” mode, stressing it is a 46 game league programme and it is still early days.

“We’ve done well. We had a great victory against Accrington the other day in the cup, some fantastic football was played, some great goals were scored. So, from my point of view, we’ve got a strong squad of players, but we focus again.

“After that game we did a debrief. What were the lessons learned? Play the different formation than what we played the following game against Bradford, as was the previous game against MK Dons, and that was relevant to the opposition that we faced.

“So the two away games, MK Dons the way they play is all about total domination of the football and passing. Well, we nullified that and actually I’m disappointed that we didn’t win the game because we were we were very good. We were very good on the day.”

PLAYER FOCUS

There’s been no standout player so far this campaign, but rather a collective group of solid performers throughout. The defensive setup of three centre backs have shown good signs, conceding only 13 goals in the games so far, a number up there with the league’s best.

There have only been seven league goals so far, but one man has shown his true talent.

Omari Patrick joined from Sutton United in the summer and has hit the ground running scoring four of the seven league goals and adding an extra goal in their 3-0 EFL cup drubbing of Accrington Stanley earlier in the season. He is quickly establishing himself as a fans favourite.

Patrick is within the 95th and 94th percentile for shot attempts and goals scored, meaning he averages more shot attempts and goals than 95 and 94% of other attackers in League Two.

TALKING POINTS

From the early stages of the season, a couple of main talking points have emerged regarding the team performance and priorities for the season ahead. Ranging from on field performance to cup draws, it’s time to address these points.

Balancing defence and attack

Tranmere have excelled defensively, but truly lacked in attack. Having one of the league’s best defences (13) is quickly deflated by having the league’s worst attack statistically (7). Rovers must find a way to balance these two factors.

Turning draws into wins

Should the games drawn by turned into victories, Tranmere are looking at an extra 11 points, which would place them second in the table. Taking one point from a game is a good basis but must start getting positive results to mount any sort of challenge.

Season priorities

Prenton Park will play host to Oldham Athletic when they visit for the first round of the FA Cup, but where does Adkins place his priorities for success this season?

 

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