Pete Wild rues missed chances and defensive mistakes as Tranmere’s slide goes on

Tranmere manager Pete Wild felt his side deserved more after they suffered another blow in their fight for League Two survival with a 2-1 defeat to Bristol Rovers at Prenton Park.

Wild’s side are just a point above the League Two relegation zone after their winless run extended to 12 games.

They looked to be on course for a point when Jayden Joseph cancelled out Promise Omochere’s opener, but Yusuf Akhamrich scored in the 84th minute to earn Bristol Rovers a seventh straight win.

Wild said: ”I felt we deserved all three points today.

“We were the far better team for 90 minutes against a side that has been right up there.

“But ultimately it’s again about what we do in both boxes.

“We’ve had a million chances in their box today and we don’t take them.

“Then we switch off and gift them two goals after we’ve defended so well for 90 minutes.

“People have to take responsibility. There were mistakes defensively and we’ve got to put the ball in the goal at the other end.

“As coaches, we send the players over the white line with ideas and and they’ve got to deliver, but they’ve got to score and defend properly, there’s not a lot more that we can do.

“The season comes down to Tuesday night at Cheltenham to try and make sure we have a buffer going into the final two games.

“The fans can see we are getting better as a team, but the bit that the lads have got to step up and be better in both boxes and they’re going to have to do that in abundance on Tuesday night.”

Steve Evans, who has guided Bristol Rovers to seven straight wins for the first time since 1953 said: “It was always going to be tough and in Tranmere’s current predicament, they were always going to put a shift in.

“The first half was scrappy and we weren’t dominating the ball as much as we should have done and we gave the ball away cheaply.

“In the second half we controlled the game for long spells and won the ball in high areas.

“We took the lead through Promise Omochere with a finish that would grace the Premier League.

“We were sloppy for the goal and didn’t track a simple run into the box and it was poor from our point of view.

“But one thing we’ve got is fight, spirit and drive and after the goal we expected Tranmere to go on the offensive, but we went on the offensive.

“I reminded the players in the team meeting that we were fighting for a prize of seven wins in a row for the first time in 70-odd years.”