The Envirovent Stadium hosts a top of the table League Two clash under the lights on Tuesday evening as second-placed Town entertain fourth-placed Tranmere Rovers.
Rovers come into the game on the back of a 1-0 win at Carlisle which stretched their unbeaten run to five games, while Simon Weaver will be hoping his side rebound from Saturday's setback that saw them fall to a late strike away to Colchester United.
Our opponents
Rovers have won five of their last seven outings to move into the upper reaches of League Two and now sit just a point behind Town and level on points with third-placed Port Vale.
Their win at Brunton Park this past weekend was not only their first win on their travels, but the first time in six games on the road that they had found the net.
In their 12 games so far this season they have scored nine goals, but remarkably have conceded just four times, posting eight clean sheets along the way and outperforming their expected goals metric by almost 13 goals. They have allowed a league-high 170 shots but only a quarter of these have been on target and have only conceded just under 10% of these.
The Town attack against this defence should be a fascinating match-up given no side has a higher percentage of shots on target than Town's 41.6% and their conversion rate of 37.1% is third-best in the division, leaving them as top scorers with 23 goals.
Last season
Town's first ever competitive fixture as a Football League club came at Prenton Park as they triumphed on penalties in the first round of the Carabao Cup. In the league, a late goal from Otis Khan saw Rovers triumph 1-0 at the Envirovent Stadium in late November.
The double was then achieved in January as despite goals Josh McPake and Josh March the home side won a rollercoaster of a game by a 3-2 margin.
The man in charge
Scot and former-Tranmere player Micky Mellon is back at the helm after a previous five-year spell in charge between 2016 and 2020. He has also managed Fleetwood, Shrewbsury and Dundee United. He has overseen just over 200 games in charge at the club, winning almost half of these matches.
During his playing career he made almost 500 appearances for Rovers, as well as Bristol City, Blackpool and West Brom.
Ones to Watch
Despite the retirement of top scorer James Vaughan at the end of 2020/21, the Rovers squad is one packed with experience. One -time Liverpool midfielder Jay Spearing anchors the midfield for Rovers whilst there is further veteran presence both Callum McManaman and Peter Clarke, the 39 year-old defender who also leads the scoring charts with three goals so far.
Tom Davies, added from Bristol Rovers in the summer has begun his career at the club in fine style as has ex-Morecambe defender Nathaniel Knight-Percival.
Goalkeeper Ross Doohan, on loan from Celtic, has deputised for the injured Joe Murphy in recent weeks.
Liam Feeney, who spent time on loan from Blackpool last season, joined the club on a permanent basis and another newcomer, Sam Foley, arrived from Motherwell and has slotted in alongside Spearing in midfield.
History
Rovers have had plenty to shout about during their existence, most recently the late-1980's saw Rovers start their rise through the divisions under John King following a period in the lower reaches.
The early-1990's saw them climb up to Championship level, propelled by an attacking line-up featuring the likes of John Aldridge, Ian Muir, John Morrissey and Chris Malkin, with Aldridge being appointed as manager in 1995.
Their recent heyday culminated in an appearance in the League Cup final in 2000 that saw them narrowly defeated by Leicester City.
Relegations soon followed though, and Rovers would drop out of the league at the end of the 2014/15 season.
A fantastic second half to the 2017/18 season culminated in ten-man Rovers defeating Boreham Wood in the National League play-off final, before a second successive promotion was secured just a year later with a 1-0 win over Newport County. The club were relegated back to League Two at the end of the truncated 2019/20 season.
Team News
Town will be hoping that Lewis Page is back in contention after his spell on the sidelines in recent weeks. They will though be without the services of long-term absentee Rory McArdle.
Tickets
Tickets can be purchased online through the below link up until midnight the day before the fixture.
BUY TICKETS
Tickets are available in our Commercial Street Store on Monday 18th October from 10am - 4pm and Tuesday 19th October from 10am - 7.45pm.
Tickets will be on sale from the ticket office window at The EnviroVent Stadium 9am - 4pm on Tuesday 19th October.
There will be no sales or collections on the gate on the day of the game.
Tickets are subject to availability, we advise booking online early to avoid disappointment.
Streaming
Due to it being a midweek fixture, the Tranmere match is available to stream for £10 via our streaming service.
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