Reds confident ahead of big test
Fri 21 Sep 2012
Author: Bruce Talbot
Boss Richie Barker says his players can't wait to test the leaders on Saturday
Image by : James Boardman
Leaders Tranmere head to the Broadfield
Richie Barker says his side cannot wait for Saturday's big test against leaders Tranmere.
Ronnie Moore brings his side to the Broadfield for the first ever game between the clubs sitting pretty as the surprise early leaders of League One.
Richie played under Moore at Rotherham and knows the 59-year-old well and he admits that not many people would have predicted this game would see fourth against first when the season kicked off five weeks ago.
Speaking ahead of tomorrow's game the boss said: "We would certainly have not thought it would be fourth v first at this stage of the season and if Ronnie was honest I don't think he would either.
"But it will be two confident teams. Ronnie has certainly turned them around. He is a very good motivator and he has become a bit of a legend at Tranmere so we know we are going to be in for a very tough game.
"We are really looking forward to the game though. We are on a decent run ourselves and there is a great atmosphere in the squad at the moment."
Although Shaun Cooper is sidelined with the abductor injury he picked up in Tuesday's 1-1 draw with Colchester, Richie is hoping to have both Claude Davis and Sergio Torres available after they returned to training following injury.
It is an important game tomorrow but Richie has taken time out to reflect on events in Manchester this week when two unarmed policewomen, PCs Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes, were murdered in the Hattersley area of the city.
Richie said: "I know the place well, it's not far from Bury where I worked before coming to the club. What happened puts a lot of things in perspective. We were watching events unfold on Wednesday in the gym during our cool-down after the Colchester game.
"I was extremely disappointed about the result the night before but you see that and football results don't really matter. The thoughts of myself and everyone at the football club are with the families of the two PCs who died."