Hill ready for Walsall challenge with help of Tranmere fans

With the national lockdown now lifted and Wirral part of the Tier 2 risk level, the Birkenhead club held a ballot of season ticket holders earlier this week to select supporters lucky enough to watch their first live football action since March.

They could not be returning at a better moment, with Rovers bang-form and climbing the League Two table as fast as the Covid weekly infection rate is falling across the borough.

Speaking via video call, Hill said: “You’re representing the community and the backbone of the football club. The supporters often save a football club, throughout the years.

“We’re just really pleased. I think the whole football world just wants supporters to see a game of football again. But from a player perspective, you want the twelfth man.

“We’re excited to put on a winning display on Saturday against Walsall.”

“They’ve very loud and support the side. What I’ve witnessed since I’ve been in and around the area, the people are superb. Very warm, welcoming and I’ve found that very refreshing, so I’m excited for the supporters to be allowed back in the stadium."

Rovers' mid-week 1-0 win at Oldham was their fifth straight league win, making them the in-form side in the division. It's a run that has also seen them keep four straight clean sheets, but Hill has been around the block long enough to know that now is no time to start getting carried away.

“Complacency is blind confidence and we’re working very hard to make sure that we don’t fall into that trap. They’re a good group, very grounded and they’re eager and ambitious to win more games,” he added.

Striker James Vaughan is on a hot goal scoring streak. Photo: Phil Bryan

Striker James Vaughan bagged the only goal of the game at Boundary Park - his eighth league goal of the season - but the new Tranmere chief is not surprised by his goal return, give how well the supporting cast are performing around him.

He said: "I don’t think that you can recruit James Vaughan without knowing what type of player he is.

“You can’t just put him into the bracket of goalscorer, you’ve got to know why he scores goals, where he scores goals, how he scores goals, certain movements, patterns of play.

“It’s important that he fits into a style of play and I think he’s got that at this moment in time.”

The Saddlers will not arrive at Prenton Park in form. They are without a win in four league games, which leaves them 16th in the table, but Hill insists that his upwardly-mobile squad is ready to execute another meticulous game plan.

He said: “We’re well versed in what the opponents do. They’ve drawn nine games out of 15. They’ll find themselves in the situation where they are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"Are they getting it wrong on a regular basis or are they really close to big successes on the pitch?

“I know Darrell Clarke really well. They do try to play attractive football. But we’re going into the 16th league game of the season and we’re really encouraged with the form that we’ve got going into this game.

“We’ve got a plan and we’re more focusing on what we need to do rather than what Walsall can do.”

Hill will be given a welcome selection headache for Saturday, with Corey Blackett-Taylor recovered from a slight hamstring concern and Morgan Ferrier once again available following the birth of his soon midweek.

Kaiyne Woolery rode his ankle against Oldham and now faces a race against time to be fit for the weekend.

He'll be hoping he makes it in time, because there won't be a player in the squad that wants to miss out in this current form.

Tranmere Rovers v Walsall kicks off at 3pm on Saturday, December 5 at Prenton Park. Follow the action with the Globe's live match blog.