Loan additions prove crucial as Tranmere get past Posh

Tranmere Rovers find themselves once more looking towards another visit to Wembley after Tuesday night’s 2-1 win over Peterborough saw them advance to the semi-final of the Papa John’s Trophy.

A lovely, curling free-kick from Danny Lloyd and a header from captain on the night Paul Lewis after an excellent cross from Otis Khan was enough despite a nervy ending after Jonson Clarke-Harris’ injury-time penalty.

Rovers now find themselves just 90 minutes away from an appearance at the national stadium but will still have their work cut out for them as they will need to get past Lincoln, Oxford or Sunderland who are all challenging for promotion out of League One.

Keith Hill’s men just about shaded things at Prenton Park and narrowly deserved their victory after both teams heavily rotated their starting line up. A couple of near misses in terms of own goals aside, Joe Murphy was never overly troubled in the Rovers goal and the game would have been seen out comfortably but for Khan’s foul to concede the penalty.

It was the performances of a couple of loan players that was worth keeping an eye on in a wintery evening in Birkenhead. Lee O’Connor, drafted in from Celtic last August, and Nya Kirby, who came in from Crystal Palace in January, were given opportunities to nail down a place in Hill’s starting eleven.

O’Connor, usually a right back, was given a run in a holding midfield role here and produced an outstanding display to see himself voted man of the match by the ‘Super White Army’ supporters.

The once-capped Irish international barely gave Posh a sniff as he patrolled the middle of the park with menace, cutting out attacks before they could get going and showing terrific stamina to still look as fresh when the fourth official put the board up to indicate stoppage time as he did at kick off.

The former Manchester United youngster was sensible in possession, never expansive, but passing the ball across the pitch, utilising Khan and the impressive Calum McDonald, now a permanent addition to the Rovers squad. O’Connor was sharp in the tackle and on a cold night he left nothing behind and was up for the challenge of a higher tier opponent.

Kirby did not have as consistent an evening as O’Connor but showed glimpses of the talent that saw him involved in the same under-17 World Cup winning squad as Phil Foden, Jadon Sancho and Callum Hudson-Odoi. The Palace youngster lined up in the centre of midfield but with more of a license to get box to box than O’Connor.

The 20-year-old was also unafraid of a challenge and got stuck in early on to snuff out a Peterborough counter attack. The touches were glorious to watch at times, particularly when he knocked the ball past a defender and hit a searing drive the flew just wide of Christy Pym’s post. It was a fantastic effort that looked like a certain goal.

On other occasions Kirby was guilty of the sort of poor decision making that you would associate with younger players. When Peterborough had a corner in the second half, the ball was headed away and Kirby brought it down on the edge of his own penalty area. The clearance should have been completed but Kirby attempted to dribble out and lost the ball, putting his defence back under pressure.

In fairness to him, Kirby did get back and put a challenge in and made amends for his error. These kind of errors of judgement should go away with more senior game time and with the coaching of Hill on the training ground.

The loanee was subbed in the latter stages of the second half but can be happy with his contribution.

It says a lot about the team spirit of Tranmere that loan players can come in and feel comfortable enough to step up and take charge of a game like last night and with experienced professionals like Murphy guiding them on the pitch, at least one Wembley appearance this season is far from out of the equation.

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