Preview | Tranmere (H)

18 October 2022

Crewe Alexandra return to Papa John’s Trophy action as they take on Tranmere Rovers at Mornflake Stadium on Tuesday (7pm).

Alex Morris’s side will be looking for a reaction from their 3-0 League Two defeat on Friday night at Rovers.

And they will be aiming to keep their hopes in the competition alive with a victory under the lights.

The Opposition

Tranmere are on an excellent run of form having won their last five fixtures without conceding a goal, including their 3-0 win over the Alex on Friday evening.

Micky Mellon’s side will aim to win their first game in the competition this season, having drawn with Bolton and being defeated by Leeds in their previous two group encounters.

The Gaffer

Micky Mellon took charge of Rovers for a second spell in June 2021, following a mixed spell in his native Scotland as manager of Dundee United.

The Paisley-born boss will be best remembered by the Prenton Park faithful for guiding the club from the National League to League One in consecutive Play-Off final victories between 2017 and 2019.

Fighting Talk

Alex Morris: “I’m looking for a big response after the poorest performance of the season, in this next game and going forward.

“You try to win every game, but it’s important that we win a game of football soon because it’s been a while since we did that -it was against Crawley five game ago. We need that winning feeling back.”

Micky Mellon: “We don’t have a squad big enough to tackle these tournaments, so we’ll be giving the rest of the boys (those available) a chance and go and try and win the game and get a result."

Team News

Crewe remain without Cristopher Long (ankle), Callum Ainley (shoulder) and Charlie Colkett (hamstring) for the upcoming games.

Tranmere wait to see if Paul Lewis will be ready following a hamstring injury on Friday night. Joel Mumbongo, Charlie Jolley, Luke Robinson and Kyle Jameson remain sidelined.

Head-to-Head

Tranmere hold the upper hand in this fixture in this fixture, winning 60 of the meetings between both sides compared to the Alex’s 45 victories.

The Railwaymen’s last victory against Rovers came in November 2018, with the Alex winning 3-2 in a thriller at Gresty Road.

Officials

Tom Reeves will take charge of the fixture on Tuesday evening, having last officiated Crewe in February 2022, a 2-0 defeat away to Wigan Athletic

He will be assisted by Lisa Rashid and Ian Smedley, with Liam Corbett appointed as fourth official.

Elsewhere in the Papa John’s Trophy

Northern Section: (Group A); Harrogate Town v Morecambe; Hartlepool United v Everton U21s; (Group B); Bolton Wanderers v Leeds United U21s; (Group C); Port Vale v Wolverhampton Wanderers U21s; Stockport County v Shrewsbury Town; (Group D); Rochdale v Salford City; Accrington Stanley v Liverpool U21s; (Group E); Lincoln City v Newcastle United; (Group F); Derby County v Manchester City U21s; (Group G); Barrow v Carlisle United; Fleetwood Town v Manchester United U21s; (Group H); Burton Albion v Bradford City; Sheffield Wednesday v Leicester City U21s.

Southern Section: (Group B); Crawley Town v Aston Villa U21s; (Group C); Cheltenham Town v West Ham United U21s; Walsall v Milton Keynes Dons; (Group D); Stevenage v Tottenham Hotspur U21s; Wycombe Wanderers v Peterborough United; (Group E); Bristol Rovers v Swindon Town; Plymouth Argyle v Crystal Palace U21s; (Group F); Forest Green Rovers v Exeter City; Newport County v Southampton U21s; (Group G); Leyton Orient v Chelsea U21s; Sutton United v Oxford United; (Group H); Cambridge United v Ipswich Town; Northampton Town v Arsenal U21s.

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Match Previews

Match Reports

Match Report | Crewe 0 Tranmere 1

18 October 2022

Elliott Nevitt hits the only goal of the evening
Crewe beaten by Rovers for second time in five days
The Railwaymen will not progress in Papa John’s Trophy

Crewe Alexandra will not progress beyond the group stage of the Papa John’s Trophy after being edged 1-0 by Tranmere Rovers.

Elliott Nevitt hit the winner on 71 minutes to earn all the Group B points for the visitors at Mornflake Stadium.

It means that The Railwaymen cannot go further in the competition after being defeated in their first two games.

Manager Alex Morris made four changes to the side that was beaten in League Two at Prenton Park on Friday, with brothers Oliver Finney and Charlie Finney brought into the starting line-up. Zac Williams and Dave Richards also came into the team.

Crewe operated in a 3-5-2 system, with Charlie Finney and Rio Adebisi at wing-back, and Courtney Baker-Richardson and Dan Agyei leading the attack.

Tranmere made 10 changes to their side, with defender Josh Dacres-Cogley the only survivor from the last encounter.

Dave Richards made a flying save from Arthur Lomax in the opening stages, but Crewe grew into the game and showed the most attacking intent in the first half an hour.

Rio Adebisi had a curling shot saved, while the visitors defended a number of forays into the penalty area well.

Superb defending at the far post by Williams denied Rovers what looked a sure opener on 36 minutes, while Sam Taylor fired into Richards’s midriff as the visitors finished the half strongly.

Sub Bassala Sambou got a clear sight of goal in the first seconds of the second half, but he couldn’t get his shot away.

Joel Tabiner whistled one wide from range, and on 55 minutes Agyei flashed a header wide from a Tabiner corner.

On the hour, Williams planted a header straight at the keeper after arriving on a Charlie Finney cross, as Crewe mounted waves of attacks.

The game started to open up in the final half-hour, and Richards had to race out of his goal to make a brave block from sub Nevitt as he raced through on goal.

But on 71 minutes Nevitt was not to be denied when he raced away from the Alex defence and drilled into the bottom corner.

Richards made an excellent stop at the feet of Taylor to keep the deficit to one.

However, Crewe could not take advantage and the game fell flat for the majority of the remainder.

Sub Lachlan Brook stung the palms of keeper Mateusz Hewelt in injury time, but The Railwaymen could not find a way through.

Crewe (3-5-2): Richards; Offord, McDonald (Mellor 76), Williams; Adebisi (King 86), C Finney, Thomas, Tabiner, O Finney (Brook 76), Baker-Richardson (Sambou 46), Agyei.

Subs not used: Okonkwo, Leshabela, Sass-Davies.

Booked: O Finney.

Tranmere (4-4-2): Hewelt; Dacres-Cogley (O’Connor 46), Byrne, Hockenhull, Jameson (Merrie 56); Hughes, Nolan, McAclear, Lomax (Hawkes 66); Taylor (Morris 84), Burton (Nevitt 66).

Subs not used: Murphy, Simeu, O’Connor.

Booked: O’Connor.

Referee: Daniel Middleton.

Attendance: 888 (195).