Tranmere goalkeeper Scott Davies will be available for selection against Ipswich Town this weekend, providing Rovers are able to get the match on at Prenton Park.

The Rovers shot stopper has been side-lined with a torn calf muscle since mid-December but it is now ready to make his return to first team action.

Manager Micky Mellon address the local media on Thursday afternoon, but would not be drawn on the condition of the Prenton Park pitch, after the postponement of Tuesday night’s FA Cup 3rd Round replay against Watford forced owners Mark and Nicola Palios to issue a statement regarding the condition of the playing surface.

Mellon said: “I haven’t seen the statement, so I don’t know about that. I’m just the football manager.

“We all know the situation with the pitch but it is what it is. We’ve just got to accept it and be prepared to go and try and be better than whoever we’re playing on it. Just like I say in any conditions. Will it give us an advantage because we know how to play it?

“I think you have to play in a way that is conducive to winning football on it. It’s like if you were playing on 4G, you would have to adjust to playing on 4G. It’s just the way it is.

The visit of promotion-chasing Ipswich will see the return of former Tranmere striker and Wembley play-off hero James Norwood, who joined the Tractor boys in the summer, but Mellon feels that having the inside track on the former Rovers favourite gives the hosts a head start.

He said: “I think it must help because you know somebody’s qualities, but he’s playing for another team now with different players, but his raw attributes are still there.

“He’s a terrific lad and we’ll speak to him after the game, but he’s nothing to us before the game. We’re Tranmere and we want to try and win the game.

The return of team captain Davies is a massive boost for Tranmere, as they look to build on the clean sheet collected at Southend last Saturday.

Mellon said: “He’s a leader and he knows the group. He knows everything about us. He’s a leader in the dressing room and he’s a good goalkeeper. It will be great to have him back.

Also available again is versatile midfielder Connor Jennings, a player who Mellon acknowledges has had to raise his game to stay in Tranmere’s team on its journey from the National League up to League One.

He said: “What he has is a great mentality which is needed when you know that you need to improve. It never became too daunting for him – the challenge of knowing that he had to get better.

“The type of honest lad he is, he was one who knew that this was a step up, but the fighter he is and the type of character that we know, he’s been able to get himself to a place where he’s starting to make a very good impact in games for us and sustain that and become that influencer in games that we know he can be.”

Rushian Hepburn-Murphy is back in training and could be in contention for a place on the bench, while fit-again Ollie Banks is continuing to strengthen day-on-day, but Saturday’s match will come too soon for the injured Calum Woods.

Striker Morgan Ferrier continues to grapple with a foot problem but is still expected to start on Saturday, providing the pitch at Prenton Park can withstand this week’s heavy weather.