We’re in relegation battle – Nigel Adkins knows Tranmere in trouble after draw

Nigel Adkins admitted his Tranmere side were in a relegation battle after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Gillingham at Prenton Park.

The result means it is now just one win in seven for Rovers while the Gills’ run of four straight defeats comes to an end.

The home side took the lead in the 17th minute when Sol Solomon finished off a nice passing move to fire home from close range.

They should have been further ahead before half-time as Connor Wood, Connor Jennings and Omari Patrick all came close to a second.

And they were made to pay on the stroke of half-time when Bradley Dack’s cross was turned into his own net by Jordan Turnbull.

In a second half that lacked any real goalmouth action, Robbie McKenzie had the best chance to win it for the away side while Rovers’ substitute Harvey Saunders should have done better with a close-range header.

Tranmere boss Adkins said: “I thought we played some really good football in the first half and created some good chances.

“The goal we scored was right off the training ground after we’ve worked hard in the week.

“It was a good goal and we could have had more with Omari Patrick and Josh Davison also coming close.

“I was seething at half-time with the goal we conceded just before the break as it was four against one at the back post and that changed everything.

“We’ve come out and shown spirit in the second half, the lads kept going and the crowd stayed with the players, which we’re grateful for.

“I’ll watch the game back tomorrow without the emotion of today and we’ll get a debrief ready for the next game on Tuesday.

“For me we’ve done enough to win the game today. We’ve got a group of guys who all got to keep working hard as we’re in a relegation battle.”

Gillingham boss John Coleman said: “All in all I thought it was a fair result.

“We really stepped it up the first 10 minutes after the break and I thought we were going to go on and win the game but we hit a bit of a brick wall.

“They put a lot of balls into our box without really looking like scoring and I thought Robbie McKenzie had won it for us at the end with a deflected shot.

“Overall, without playing what I would say was our best, you’ve got to be happy coming away with a point even though I’m not pleased with points, I want to win games.

“That’s two games I’ve played now and we haven’t won and I want to get back to winning ways, but we’ve got to build on that today.

“I thought there were some positive performances but I think we can be better and we have to be better if we’re going to climb the league.

“My overriding emotion is I want to get it right, and that’s going to take time.”