Top three in sight for Tranmere ahead of Valiants’ visit

Barring a Stevenage thrashing at the hands of Morecambe, circumstances have dictated that Tranmere go into this clash with Port Vale knowing a win will take them into the top three and the automatic promotion place in League Two.

Carlisle’s home game with Cheltenham has been postponed on Saturday meaning victory will see Keith Hill’s men make that leap when just over two weeks ago a Play-Off spot was seen as the aim.

The Cumbrians would then have three games in hand but in such a condensed season it may be more advantageous to have the points on the board.

Rovers come into this off the back of four straight wins in the league and are unbeaten in League Two since Boxing Day, plus they have an EFL trophy semi-final to look forward to, after Tuesday night’s win over Peterborough United.

Hill rested plenty of key men on Tuesday, with the likes of James Vaughan and Jay Spearing earning a night off. They should come back into the lineup this weekend with the manager having a full squad to choose from after no new injury concerns were revealed. New signings David Nugent and Ali Crawford could make their debuts.

Port Vale come into this one with former Manchester United midfielder Danny Pugh still in temporary charge after the club parted company with John Askey at the beginning of January.

The Valiants were fancied by many to also be pushing for promotion this season but find themselves languishing in the bottom half. The Play-Offs probably shouldn’t be ruled out at this stage of the season but Vale find themselves eight points adrift having played more matches than anybody else in the division.

It would therefore have to be deemed as unlikely but they can push on and have a better end to the campaign to try and push for a top-half finish, starting with a win here. Vale will need striker Devante Rodney to continue where he left off from last week’s 5-1 win over bottom club Southend after he fired in a brace.

The visitors will likely be without Shaun Brisley, who went off injured during last week’s encounter.

The two clubs played out a seven-goal thriller back in November with Rovers coming out on top and hopefully, we get treated to similar excitement on Saturday. Keith Hill is hoping the carrot of the top three will get his side over the line once again.

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