TRANMERE Rovers host Crawley Town on Saturday looking to extend their unbeaten run to five games.

Nigel Adkins’ side are 15th in League Two, after a memorable 1-0 win over Wrexham at the Racecourse Ground in North Wales last time out. 

Crawley are chasing a play off position and lie just one point behind AFC Wimbledon in seventh after a 1-1 draw with Stockport County in midweek. 

Adkins said: "Crawley are an exceptionally good footballing side who keep really good possession of the football with loads of rotation.

"Scott (Lindsey) has done a good job down there so we are under no illusions that this is going to be another challenging game. 

"But our players have really stood up to the challenge - they are competing and finding ways to win football matches."

Wrexham had 25 chances against Tranmere Rovers with the hosts dominating possession and yet it was the visitors who emerged victorious leaving Adkins satisfied that his side can be a very stubborn nut to crack.

"We've found a way to win different ways," he said. "Everyone wants to play the beautiful game, build up from the back and play out and Crawley will do that in abundance.

"When we played against Mansfield we played some nice football but against Wrexham we had to show that dogged spirit and defend set pieces. When we are playing against teams that are a lot bigger than us can we find a way to navigate that? From my point of view it was really good.

"We have an identity and we score lots of goals - as good as anyone in the leagues - we're very forward thinking in everything we do and we're good in the transition to counter attack but can we improve by being better in possession of the football and for longer periods."

Tranmere's ability to score should be boosted in the season's final weeks due to the return of injury hit duo Luke Norris and Christian Dennis.

Adkins said: "Luke and Christian were going to be the two main strikers coming in  with a plethora of goals but neither of them have really contributed. Despite that we've still scored as many as others in the leagues and they're back now.

"We've got a team spirit, competition for places and strength coming off the bench with a group who are all together. Confidence is really high at the moment."

Adkins is also content for Rovers to play his way and this means he's happy for his players to concede possession in the opponent’s half as long as Rovers maintain a solid defensive shape and our ready to turn defence into attack. 

He said: "There's a very good chance that Crawley being the type of side they are they are going to have more possession of the football than we are.

"I'm quite happy for the opposition to have more of the football because we've demonstrated we're very good at blocking, intercepting and counter attacking on the transition and we score a lot of goals so it's not a problem for me. It's about being patient.

"We have to be a good defensive outfit and that means being compact so when we go to press we press together. We've just beaten the top three in the league, we're very good at home, we have an identity to start off and we can adapt in game to help us win."