Vaughan injury represents concern for Tranmere

Tranmere were without the league’s second highest goalscorer in James Vaughan on Saturday and they will be hoping for a swift return if the 1-0 defeat to Crawley was anything to go by.

Rovers could consider themselves fortunate to not get beaten by a greater margin as Crawley built on Tom Nichols’ goal and rarely looked threatened by a shot-shy attack.

Vaughan had missed the midweek victory over Newport but his absence was more keenly felt on Saturday at Prenton Park. Keith Hill confirmed in his post-match press conference that Vaughan would undergo surgery on his knee and that they could not put a timeframe on his return.

“James Vaughan I now know needs surgery. So he will be out for I don’t know how long until after the surgery. He’ll be having surgery on Tuesday afternoon so I’ll know more on Wednesday/Thursday once the surgeon gives us the information that we need.”

This was the news that no Tranmere fan wanted to hear and it is a cruel blow to the 32-year-old who will surely miss next Sunday’s EFL Trophy Final against Sunderland at Wembley.

Hill opted again for David Nugent upfront to replace Vaughan and the former Portsmouth and Leicester striker started brightly, linking up well with Liam Feeney and being a useful outlet when the ball was knocked long out of defence.

The match actually started at a helter-skelter pace with space opening up all over the park and it allowed Kaiyne Woolery to run into the channels and stretch the backline of John Yems’ side. Nugent picked Woolery out on a couple of occasions with both men taking it in turns to occupy the central role usually vacated by Vaughan.

As the game began to settle down, Nugent squandered what turned out to be the best opportunity of the match for the Birkenhead side. Woolery had now drifted to the right and picked up the ball and began driving at the Crawley defence. The in-form attacker cut inside and saw his shot saved before Nugent turned the rebound over the bar.

In fairness to the ex-England international, it wasn’t the easiest of opportunities with the ball coming at him at pace and pressure being exerted by the defender but it was as good as it got from Rovers.

The intensity at the start of the game could have been predicted after seeing the warm-up as the Tranmere players looked fired up and full of confidence. Unfortunately, once that intensity went, the problems began to emerge.

Woolery had been excellent in recent weeks and had scored four goals in his last five appearances prior. However, on Saturday he was very much on the periphery, trying to make things happen but to no avail.

An issue that blighted Tranmere’s performance was the final ball. On too many occasions Nugent and Woolery made good runs in behind the defence but the passes were overhit and by a fair margin too. Danny Lloyd and Jay Spearing were both guilty of this and you could see the frustration creeping into the play afterwards.

With Woolery reaching the high standards he had set with recent performances, Keith Hill would have hoped others would step up but in truth, it was an off day for most of the team. Paul Lewis gave the ball away a few times while Nya Kirby made way at half time after struggling to influence the game.

A strong feature of Rovers’ play is left-back Calum McDonald galloping down the wing to support the attack but even this was missing on Saturday. It is most likely the consequences of the relentless nature of the season and it is understandable if players are beginning to feel it.

With Vaughan out, there was less of a presence in the box so Tranmere sent in far fewer crosses than normal. This led to the centre of the pitch getting clogged up and allowed Crawley to win the ball back and set off on counter-attacks.

Most Rovers fans will be hoping that this was just one of those days. They happen in football and it would be unfair to expect those terrific recent results every week.

Vaughan’s injury may have made this game a bigger worry though and supporters of the ‘Whites’ will be hoping Hill has some tricks up his sleeve to ensure the promotion push doesn’t falter as a result.

Games against the League’s bottom two offer a great chance to get the attack firing again and get the confidence back up and running. It will make life recuperating from his operation that little bit easier for Vaughan.

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