Three successive wins by Bristol Rovers has put an entirely different light on their game with Tranmere Rovers this week-end.

The 4-0 result at Swindon came right out of 'left field' and stunned the Rovers fans as much as it did those of the Wiltshire team.

Although Rovers were under the cosh in the early stages of the game and to some extend rode their luck, there was also a good deal of gritty defending and this has even been recognised by Swindon. This was almost a rewind to earlier in the season when Rovers were winning away games for fun.

Rovers are still 9 points behind 6th placed Swindon but are going into the final stretch of the season in winning form.

Following their victory at Southampton on 29th September Rovers hit that dreadful 11 match away streak where they picked up just 2 points from the 33 on offer. Right in the middle of that run cam a 2-0 loss at Prenton Park

Tranmere took the lead through Craig Curran on 29 minutes. The front man picked the ball up from a throw on the left and was allowed to advance to the edge of the area where he unleashed a ferocious left foot drive that beat Andersen and ended up in the top corner of the net

Rovers were then caught on the break on 56 minutes when Gareth Edds was found in space on the edge of the box and fired a low shot past Andersen to double his side's lead. It was a game in which the Gas never really competed.

At that time Tranmere were second from bottom in League One, five points from safety. They are now 3 positions higher but still embroiled in the relegation battle.

The Gas' first game against Tranmere took place as long ago as 12 December 1931 as the Birkenhead team ran out 2-0 winners at Prenton Park in an FA Cup tie.

It was 36 long years before the teams crossed one another again, this time in the League and the honours were shared with a 3-3 draw in the Wirral.

Rovers' best victory over the Prenton Park outfit took place on 30th September 1969, when they ran out 3-0 winners at Eastville.

The last time Rovers hosted a home game against Tranmere was on 23rd February last year when the teams tied 1-1. The Gas has by far and away the better of the results from the 26 games played with 14 victories to Tranmere's 8.

The games are rarely high scoring affairs, in the 20 games since Tranmere's 5-2 thrashing of the Gas in 1969/70 season; no side has scored more than 2 goals. The aggregate number of goals in those games is 38, less than 2 per game!

Speaking after their midweek drubbing by Leeds, Tranmere manager Les Parry was disappointed with his side's first half display as they conceded three goals.

He said: "I think the first half was our poorest performance since we've taken over. It's not as if Leeds scored good goals - a free kick, a penalty, a third poor goal and then the fourth was a boot over the top.

"We had a pop at the lads at half time and I think we were unfortunate to lose the second half. But the first half was a poor performance. It was a comedy of errors.

"I had a word with the referee at half time as I felt the first four free kicks were debatable, the one they got the goal from especially so. But he gave them and we have to deal with them.

"We'll be ok on Saturday, we're not bad at dealing with set backs. The lads will be in on Thursday and we'll go into Saturday with hopes of getting something out of the game. Bristol Rovers are a decent side so we've got to go there and play better than today to get anything."

Parry's thoughts on Saturday's game are echoed by defender Marlon Broomes who says it is not all doom and gloom despite the 4-1 defeat.

Tranmere beat Southampton 2-1 on Saturday and Broomes says they must take heart from that win. He said: "When you look at it we've played two top teams and we've got three points.

"If we had got two draws then people would have been happy, so maybe it's a point gained. But we were disappointed with what happened in the first half."

Talking about Saturday's game he said, "We've picked up a little away from home and this is a little set back. We've got to put it behind us now and we've got another fixture coming up. It's vital that we try and get something out of that game."

So often this season the Gas have been a Jackal and Hyde team, the brilliance seen at Swindon often followed by a performance such as the one up at Tranmere.

The team needs to harness the collective spirit from Swindon and bottle it to use for the rest of the season. To climb the table Bristol Rovers will need to look at gaining 3 points from every game.

Written by Gerry Prewett.