TRANMERE Rovers may have a match free weekend, but Micky Mellon's first team squad have not been taking things lightly and preparations for the busy Christmas schedule have been gathering pace.

Rovers were scheduled to play away against Woking in the Vanarama National League this weekend, a fixture which has been postponed due to The Cards' continued participation in the FA Cup as they play host to Tranmere's first round conquerors Peterborough United on Sunday afternoon.

The Tranmere manager has mixed feelings about the enforced break.

He said: "The break has been useful in terms of the injuries that we have and the amount of work the players have done in recent weeks in terms of games played and the travelling we’ve done.

"But on the other hand, we have come off the back of a really good 4-0 victory over Maidstone and some good recent form.

"The players have been playing well and are probably champing at the bit to get another game under their belt and keep the momentum going from that, so there are positives and negatives to the break."

Mellon admits that it has been a case of managing the workload of his players during this 'free week' to ensure they are able to manage the busy festive fixture list.

He said: "With the squad, it has been maintenance work with them this week really, keeping them ticking over, because we have had a lot of games in a short amount of time recently.

"We're still working on the players and their individual improvements as much as we can as well.

"But it's also a case of recharging the batteries and making sure that they are physically ready as they possibly can for the Torquay game."

The Tranmere boss should have a few more players to select from when the Torquay United game comes around.

After struggling to be able to select a full 16-man matchday squad in recent weeks, Mellon will be able to welcome back a few faces to his squad ahead of the Christmas period which sees Rovers play six matches in just 23 days.

He said: "I imagine that we'll have a few of the injured lads back.

"Harris and McNulty will return from their suspensions too so we should have a fuller squad to choose from and, obviously, going into the Christmas period with lots of games, that will be important for us.

"The important thing is to try and pick a team who I think will win games for Tranmere.

"That’s up to me to do and I’ll continue to try and do that.

"Keeping everyone as fit and active as possible in order to do that will be my focus."

On Saturday morning, from 11am-midday, the entire first team squad, along with Micky Mellon and his backroom staff, will take part in a signing session at Prenton Park.

Mellon believes it is important for the fans to feel a full part of the 'Tranmere family' and be able to mix with the players.

"It's good for the fans to come and meet the players, their heroes, and have some real interaction with them.

"And it's good for the players to meet the people they are representing on a Saturday.

"We are a family club and we value the support that we get and we want to take every opportunity we can to mix as much as possible.

"It's important for the club to continually move forward to work very hard at spending time together with the fans.

"At Tranmere, we work very hard to try and make the fans feel a part of things with events like this, and that's credit to everybody at the football club.

"We know how important it is to people to come and meet the players who they support on a Saturday so we're delighted to be involved and everyone is looking forward to it."