Tranmere put the sacking of Mike Jackson behind them and picked up their first away win of the season with a 1-0 victory over Harrogate Town on Tuesday evening.

Rovers had lost four of their last five fixtures but just three minutes after coming on, substitute Otis Khan struck the only goal of the game with 11 minutes remaining to clinch the win and move the Whites up to 17th in the League Two table.

 

With Jackson fired and no new manager yet in place, it was left to Assistant Manager Ian Dawes and Academy Manager Andy Parkinson to take control of the team.

The duo recalled Jay Spearing, Liam Ridehalgh and fit-again Corey Blackett-Taylor with Ollie Banks, Calum MacDonald and Kaiyne Woolery dropping down to the bench.

Blackett-Taylor had a good opportunity very early on when he latched onto a poor back pass but could only blast his shot over the bar.

Rovers should have taken the lead just before half time, when a Town mix-up put James Vaughan clean through on the goal, but his shot crashed back off the post and Paul Lewis was unable to turn in the rebound, as Harrogate survived.

Blackett-Taylor showed his deadly turn of pace after the break to beat his man and fire in a low cross for Lewis, who steered the ball just past the near post.

Goals have been hard to come by for Rovers, but as the game edged towards the final 10 minutes they took the lead.

Substitute Khan threaded a ball through to Liam Feeney, who fired the ball across the six-yard box hitting the heel of Woolery before Khan steamed in to slot home the match winner.

A serious injury to Harrogate player Will Smith resulted in 14 minutes of injury time, but despite a late scare at the death, Tranmere hung on to pick up a morale-boosting victory on the road.

Rovers will now take a break from league action to prepare for the visit of Accrington Stanley to Prenton Park on Saturday, in the FA Cup 1st Round.

Whether a new manager will be place by the time that match kicks off remains to be seen.