Football – England – League Two
Saturday 24th January 2015 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
Next up is a real ‘six-pointer’ with hosts Tranmere Rovers taking on rock-bottom Hartlepool United where three points for the hosts would be a severe blow to Hartlepool’s chances of survival in League Two.
With self-preservation being the name of the game now as the season approaches the final straight, Tranmere Rovers know they must at least avoid defeat here in order to keep second from bottom Dagenham & Redbridge from leapfrogging them to safety – but with The Daggers not in action this weekend, Rovers could steal a march on them and pull away from the bottom two with three points today.
Tranmere’s recent results suggest that they are well placed to do just that with just one defeat from their last seven matches (an understandable 1-0 loss at Burton Albion), but manager Micky Adams, a proven manager in the lower leagues, has restored belief and confidence at Prenton Park where they’ve won three of their last four with wins over Portsmouth, Northampton Town and Accrington Stanley.
Hartlepool United’s hopes of avoiding the drop down into the Conference appear to be dwindling as each week passes as they’ve registered just one league win from their last fourteen matches. Not even the appointment of lower league legend Ronnie Moore has been enough to turn around Pools’ fortunes, with their one win in this sequence being a 2-0 home win over bottom half outfit Cheltenham Town.
But away from their Victoria Park ground, Hartlepool have lost the most away matches in League Two (10) as their overall record reads a dismal 2-1-10 8/26, and along with Accrington, have conceded the most goals on the road too. In addition to failing to keep a clean sheet in each of their 13 away matches so far, Pools have also failed to score on seven occasions, adding insult to injury.
Tranmere, under Micky Adams, are a far better prospect than visiting Hartlepool in this match, so I’ll back the hosts to squeeze out a narrow 1-0 win here – it won’t be pretty though!
Pick: Tranmere Rovers straight win @ 1.85 Bet Victor
