Chasing pack may suit us says Coyne

Dec 24 2008 by Nick Hilton, Liverpool Daily Post

TRANMERE’S failure to keep up with the pacemakers during the first phase of the promotion race may be a blessing in disguise, according to Danny Coyne.

The Wales international goalkeeper can see the merits of Rovers making their move in the second half of the season – and holding onto a top six spot to secure a place in the play-offs.

“Coming from behind could suit us,” Coyne said.

Ronnie Moore’s team reach the halfway point of the League One campaign after playing host to Walsall on Sunday, December 28 – the final game of 2008.

They moved to within four points of the play-off zone last weekend after a 1-0 home win over Brighton, but have flirted only briefly with the top six during the first five months of the season.

During the 2007/08 campaign they occupied a place in the play-off zone from late August to mid-November. But the promotion challenge tailed off after the turn of the year and they finished 11th.

Coyne said: “I would rather we came up from the back and got into the play-off places at a later stage. In the past we’ve tended to be up there fairly early on and then faded away.

“Don’t get me wrong. If we can get up there quickly and stay there for remainder of the season that’s great. But we have not been able to keep it going in the last couple of seasons. We are not up there to be shot at yet but I do believe we are good enough to be a top six team.

“It’s a question of putting together a run at the right time.”

Coyne is hoping the win over Brighton turned a psychological corner for the team after the bitter disappointment of going out of two knockout competitions to last-minute goals in the space of eight days.

“You get ups and downs in every season and the phase when we lost the two cup games to Peterborough and Scunthorpe and had the league defeat at Bristol Rovers in the middle was certainly one of our low points,” Coyne said.

“It is always a gut-wrenching feeling when you get beaten in the last minute of a game. We thought the FA Cup replay against Peterborough was won and we thought we were going to go to a penalty shoot-out in the JPT tie at Scunthorpe.

“So when we did the same thing to Brighton last Saturday, I knew exactly how their lads felt. But I did not feel any sympathy for them. I just reckoned it was about time we had a bit of last-minute luck ourselves.”

Coyne added: “Thoughts about what might have happened are still at the back of my mind.

“We could have been playing in front of a big crowd at West Brom in the FA Cup at the start of the new year and we could have been in the area finals of the JPT and one step away from Wembley.

“They were big disappointments but the important thing was to bounce back. We kept going until the end of the Brighton game and it paid off for us. It has put us within touching distance of the play-off places and we have the opportunity to crack on now.”

Coyne says he is “fairly happy” with Rovers’ progress after a faltering start to the season in which defensive problems were to the fore.

He said: “We did not make the best of starts and we were conceding quite a few goals. We looked at the situation, worked on it and turn things around. We’ve kept a lot of clean sheets over the last two to three months and kept ourselves around the play-off area.

“We don’t have a big squad but I think our results and performances against the teams at the top show we have no reason to fear anyone in this division.”

Coyne and his team-mates will be training as normal on Christmas Day. Like manager Ronnie Moore, he is surprised Rovers have been asked to travel as far as Hereford for a Boxing Day game.

He said: “It’s something we will have to take in our stride. We had two games against Hereford in the FA Cup last season and we felt we deserved to win each time but ended up going out. So you could say we owe them one.”