Tranmere Rovers head into the first leg of their League Two playoff semi-final with Morecambe having replaced manager Clint Hill with Ian Dawes on a caretaker basis.
While the home side failed to win their last two fixtures of the regular season, Morecambe have prevailed in five of their last six encounters.
Match preview
© Reuters
Derek Adams and his Morecambe squad will naturally be disappointed that claiming 15 points during a short period of time did not result in automatic promotion to League One.
Nevertheless, Adams will be delighted with the performances of his side, who confirmed fourth position with a 2-0 victory over Bradford City on the final day of the season.
As well as recording three clean sheets in their last four outings, 15 goals have come from their last 540 minutes in the fourth tier of English football.
Cole Stockton has netted in five of his last six outings, with top goalscorer Carlos Mendes Gomes chipping in with three strikes and three assists.
While things have been heading in an upward trajectory at the Mazuma Stadium, it is all change at Prenton Park, with Dawes having surprisingly been appointed as the club's new boss.
After just 16 points were collected from their closing 13 fixtures, the Tranmere hierarchy decided to dispense with the services of Hill at a pivotal part of the season.
With just one defeat being recorded in five matches, the change in leadership was unexpected, and Dawes must now try to handle the increased pressure on his shoulders.
On a positive note, Tranmere can now call upon leading marksman James Vaughan, who has made just three substitute appearances since the end of February.
In the two matches between these two sides during the regular campaign, the away team prevailed by a 1-0 scoreline.
- L
- D
- W
- W
- L
- D
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
Team News
Having had a week-and-a-half to build his fitness, Vaughan is expected to get the nod ahead of David Nugent in the Tranmere attack.
The appointment of Dawes means that further changes could be made, with Emmanuel Monthe potentially being brought back into the centre of defence.
Much could depend on whether Dawes reverts to a back four with a 3-5-2 formation proving ineffective against Colchester United.
Morecambe remain without Kelvin Mellor, who serves the final game of his three-match suspension.
With John O'Sullivan also still sidelined through injury, Liam McAlinden is in line to keep his place on the right flank.
Tranmere Rovers possible starting lineup:
Murphy; O'Connor, Clarke, Monthe, MacDonald; Lewis, Spearing, Morris; Feeney; Vaughan, Woolery
Morecambe possible starting lineup:
Letheren; Cooney, Knight-Percival, Lavelle, Gibson; Songo'o, Diagouraga; McAlinden, Wildig, Gomes; Stockton
We say: Tranmere Rovers 1-2 Morecambe
Now under a new manager and with the stakes only getting higher, we expect Rovers to deliver an improved performance.
Nevertheless, we cannot ignore Morecambe's recent form, leading us to back a narrow win for the visitors.
Top tip
Darren Plant
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Tranmere Rovers win with a probability of 50.89%. A draw had a probability of 26% and a win for Morecambe had a probability of 23.16%.
The most likely scoreline for a Tranmere Rovers win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.16%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.96%) and 2-1 (9.25%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.22%), while for a Morecambe win it was 0-1 (8.08%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 5.7% likelihood.
