Tranmere Rovers FC to welcome back defender Ian Goodison after suspension for key game at AFC Bournemouth

Apr 8 2011 by Nick Hilton, Liverpool Daily Post

TRANMERE will look to defensive strongman Ian Goodison to put some steel into the fight to fend off the threat of relegation at Dean Court tomorrow afternoon.

The Jamaican centre-back returns to the side against Bournemouth after a two-game ban caused him to miss the defeats to Huddersfield Town and Sheffield Wednesday that have left Rovers close to the League One drop zone.

Manager Les Parry said: “Ian is important to us, there’s no disputing that.

“We conceded six goals in the two games he missed and before we lost 4-0 at Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday there were only a handful of games where we were beaten by more than two goals.

“When the opposition see Ian is suspended I’m sure they are glad about it.

“He’s back for the Bournemouth game and it can’t come quickly enough.”

However, Parry’s relief at having the vastly-experienced 38-year-old marshalling the back four is countered by the disappointment of losing skipper John Welsh, also through suspension.

Parry rates the 27-year-old midfielder as Tranmere’s “most influential player.”

He said: “Welshy is involved in 20 to 25% of everything we do as a team. He breaks play up, he creates things, he is brave and he leads by example.

“He is going to be a big loss and whoever fills his shoes has got to do a decent job because they are replacing a player who is on the top of his game.”

Parry’s hopes of injecting the creative talents of Andy Robinson back into the side will hang on a late fitness test. The attacking midfielder has missed the last two games with a groin strain and Parry is anxious about the dangers of rushing him back too early with potentially decisive games to come over the next few weeks.

Parry said: “I’m a little bit apprehensive about forcing Andy to come back too soon. We are getting to the stage where an injury like a sprained ankle can put a player out for the remainder of the season because there isn’t that long to go. If we go too early with Andy we could end up putting him out for the rest of the season.”

Tranmere will have six games to play after the encounter with Bournemouth – four of them at home and three of those against teams involved in the relegation struggle.

Parry’s is confident that another seven points, taking Tranmere to 50, will be sufficient to secure League One status. But current form is not encouraging with the last 11 games yielding one win and just six points. The defeat at Sheffield Wednesday was the heaviest of the season.

Parry said: “I would prefer not to be where we are. Four teams will go down and there is still a possibility that we will be one of them. We have to get a couple of wins as soon as possible to make sure we are out of danger. I want us to finish as high as we possibly can.

“My belief is unwavering because I have belief in the players. We are not in the best of form, there is no kidding about that.

After Bournemouth we will have six games left and four them at home against teams who are around the middle of the table or below us.

“We have to believe we can win those games.”

Not that Parry doubts his team’s chances of springing an upset at Dean Court – Bournemouth have slipped down to sixth place in the table after failing to win in the last six games.

Parry said: “I thought we could get something against Huddersfield and I thought we would get something at Sheffield Wednesday and I was wrong.

“I really fancy us to get something off Bournemouth. We owe them one. They have beaten us twice this season.”

Assistant boss Steve Fletcher is hoping Bournemouth can revive their flagging promotion push in what he sees as “our most important game of the season” against Tranmere.

Fletcher reckons the Cherries have not had the rub of the green recently.

“We have created so many chances in the last three games yet got just two points,” he said.

“We just have to keep doing what we are doing and be more clinical in front of goal as a team. Performances have been good and that’s important, but right now we’d take a game where we create just a couple of chances, put a scrappy one away and win the game.

“We have six games left and we have to keep going. We have another tough game coming up against Tranmere because they are just above the bottom four and fighting for their lives.”