Nigel Adkins refusing to throw in the towel after Tranmere lose again

Tranmere manager Nigel Adkins said he had no plans to walk away following a 1-0 home defeat to Accrington.

Shaun Whalley netted the winner to leave Rovers two points above the relegation zone after a 10-match winless run, with cries of “We want Adkins out” ringing out at the final whistle.

After a fifth defeat in seven games, Adkins said: “We didn’t get the result we were after today.

“We’ve gifted them the first goal, and the first goal is always very important, after that you’re always chasing the game.

“But we weren’t ruthless enough with the chances we had. We needed to win tonight and we haven’t done that.

“You’ve got to have belief and you’ve got to have hope, there are still games to play and you can’t throw the towel in yet.

“You’ve got to keep working and you’ve got to keep going. It was a very poor defeat tonight, we’ve got to change it and we’ve got to change it quick.

“It’s my hometown club and I’m never going to walk away at any point. I’m under contract to the football club and if the owner wants me to stay then I’ll do everything I can, that’s all I can do.

“I’ll continue to do that until asked differently.”

Accrington are now seven points clear of the relegation places after a first win in seven outings.

Boss John Doolan said: “I’m honestly so proud of my team, they were all like warriors.

“We challenged them and asked if they could stand up and be resilient, as this is a tough place to come because the fans get behind the team.

“But when things don’t go well it can go the other way, and we made sure they went the other way with that performance tonight.

“It was so important that we won the game because of what was at stake and being at that end of the table.

“We knew we had to stay in the game and be challenging at half-time and if a few of our chances had gone in, it could have made things more comfortable at the break.

“The Liverpool game was great and it was brilliant pitting our wits against one of the best teams in Europe, but we knew we had bigger games coming and this was one.

“We’ve come here, we’ve put on an unbelievable display and I’m so happy for every single one of my players.”