TRANMERE Rovers will be hoping for a Christmas cracker of a result when they face Burton Albion in League Two action this afternoon.

The match, at Pirelli Stadium, follows Rovers' 1-1 draw with Cambridge United at Prenton Park on Friday night.

During a press conference at Prenton Park earlier this week, Rovers' boss Micky Adams admitted this afternoon's match, which kicks off at 3pm, was a tough one on paper, but his squad are ready for the challenge.

He said: "We remain confident in our abilities to get results and I think, having faced Luton not so long ago and running them close, we shouldn't fear anybody, providing we turn up.

"If we drop below the standards that we've set ourselves recently then there will only be outcome."

Assessing today's opponents, he continued: "They're a confident side with a new manager, very much like myself, getting his own ideas across but we know they've got good players.

"We know the difficulty of the task."

Rovers slipped back into the relegation zone following Friday's draw, but as far as Adams is concerned, the only way is up.

He said: "The table is now concertinaed I suppose, the points gap that was once there is not there anymore.

"When you have two wins and there are clubs not performing as they should do over the Christmas period you can find yourselves up the table.

"I think, if we'd have kept a clean sheet the other night we'd have been two or three places higher up, so it's close now.

"There are a lot of teams now that must be looking over their shoulder at Tranmere. We've been in the bottom two for the majority of the season, it won't phase us, we're not going to worry about it.

"I think other teams will be more worried than we are.

"We'll go to Burton with 11 bodies out there, no excuses, and try to win a game of football.

"If we'd have won the other day, that would have been four on the bounce, in terms of getting a winning habit and winning mentality.

"Although we didn't win the other day, we know what we have to do to get results.

"It's all about standards and taking the work from the training ground.

"If we drop below the standards that we set ourselves, then we become very average.

"If we perform like we are capable of playing, then we're not fearful of going anywhere.

"I'm not fearful of going anywhere with this team of players and trying to get a result. It's not something that phases me and shouldn't phase the players."