Tranmere new boy Michael Ricketts set to figure against former club Leeds United

Aug 21 2009 by Nick Hilton, Liverpool Daily Post

MICHAEL RICKETTS could be in line for a first taste of senior action in a Tranmere shirt against his former club Leeds United tomorrow.

The former England striker, looking to put his career back on track after signing a one-year contract with Rovers last weekend, may earn a place on the bench at Elland Road.

Manager John Barnes gave the 30-year-old target man a workout of more than an hour in a reserve game against Walsall on Wednesday.

Barnes said: “I’m trying to get Michael fit as soon as possible. He definitely will not start at Leeds because it’s a little bit too soon for him. But he may be on the bench.”

Ricketts is playing catch-up on the fitness front, having missed out on a pre-season programme this summer while he searched for a club.

“We can’t afford to rest Michael,” Barnes said. “He has to train hard and play at the same time. He is doing as much as we could expect of him to in the circumstances.”

Barnes says he believes Ricketts has the motivation to show he can become a powerful attacking weapon for Rovers this season.

The Birmingham-born frontman was at the peak of his powers during a two-and-a-half-year spell with Bolton at the start of the decade. The goals were drying up by the time Ricketts joined Leeds in the summer of 2004. He failed to notch a goal in 25 league appearances in two seasons at Elland Road and was released on loan spells to Stoke, Cardiff and Burnley. A succession of moves to Southend, Preston, Oldham and Walsall followed.

Barnes is not short of striking options tomorrow. Ian Thomas-Moore, with three goals from his first four appearances, should be fit for action after shaking off the groin strain that caused him to limp off in the second half of Tuesday’s 1-0 home defeat to MK Dons.

Craig Curran and Terry Gornell, the teenagers vying for the spot alongside Thomas-Moore, are also off the goalscoring mark this season.

Barnes expects Ian Goodison to play after struggling with a hamstring injury in midweek.

The visit to Leeds puts Tranmere in opposition to the most powerful and illustrious club in the division -- and also the form team. Leeds have reeled off three straight wins as they aim to ensure a third season in English football’s third tier is also their last.

Rovers’ early season form is more mixed with defeats to Yeovil and MK Dons falling either side of a 4-2 win over Gillingham last Saturday.

Barnes said: “We have to believe we can go to Leeds and get a result. The way we played against Gillingham and MK Dons should give us a little bit of belief.

“We should not be in awe of any opposition, whether we are going to Elland Road or Old Trafford. If as a team, we work hard for each other and are well-organised, we can compete.

“We have to anticipate it will be difficult but we can be thinking this is going to be too difficult for us, that we are not going to be able to pass the test.”

Barnes says he is looking for an improvement in Tranmere’s passing, which became ragged in the second half of the MK Dons game. He said: “We want to retain the ball better and switch it more quickly from left to right.

“Watching playbacks of our games, it apparent that when we do that, we get the full-backs involved, we get crosses into the box and we look dangerous.”

TRANMERE Reserves were beaten by their Walsall counterparts, who scored an early goal via Rhys Weston in their opening totesport.com League Cup group game at Cammell Laird’s Kirklands ground.