Dean Whitehead eyes further improvement after Tranmere’s comeback win

Tranmere assistant Dean Whitehead praised his players’ character and determination after they overturned an early deficit to claim a 3-1 victory over Cheltenham at Prenton Park.

Cheltenham stunned the hosts by taking the lead inside the opening minute through Charlie McCann but Dylan Jones’ brace and a Charlie Whitaker effort turned the game around before half-time.

The win ended Rovers’ wait for a home league victory since early September and extended their unbeaten run in League Two to three games.

Whitehead, filling in for Darrell Clarke in the press conference, said: “It’s the first time we’ve (conceded the first goal in a game) at home, and you never know how you’ll react until that happens.

“But we responded really well. It’s about time that we scored a couple of goals in the first half. We’ve come from behind to win at home and scored three, so it’s a good day for us.

“We didn’t start very well at all. They were on the front foot and scored really early. It took us 20 minutes to settle down, and once we did the first goal came.

“We’ve had problems conceding late in the game, but we put that right at Northampton and did it again today. We managed the game really well and saw it out quite comfortably.

“It was a big game for us. It’s two from three now and we’re in a good place, but we want to keep improving.”

McCann turned home Jake Evans’ cross from close range to put Cheltenham ahead but Tranmere responded positively and drew level in the 23rd minute as Jones got on the end of Jacob Slater’s delivery to find the bottom corner.

Jones struck again six minutes before the interval, unleashing a superb 25-yard effort, before Charlie Whitaker added a third with a spectacular dipping strike just before half-time.

Cheltenham boss Steve Cotterill, who has seen his side lose three of their last five games, said: “It was never a game we deserved to lose that’s for sure.

“We started off the game really well and for the first 30 minutes I thought we were excellent, but they ended up scoring with their first effort on goal.

“Things like that don’t just change games, they change mindsets. I think in that period after they got their goals, we were almost in denial that it was the scoreline going in at half-time.

“Once you go in at half-time at 3-1 down, everybody then thinks it’s a mountain to climb to get back into the game. But you only need one more goal to get back into the game.

“I felt we were the better team today and we’ve made a couple of mistakes.

“And that’s what’s happening with us at the moment, we’re making a couple of mistakes and they are ending up in the back of our net.”