Tranmere Rovers boss Micky Mellon saw flaws in Bristol Rovers' approach play in the 1-1 draw at Prenton Park on Saturday.
Joey Barton's side dominated the ball, with 68 per cent of possession and more than double Tranmere's 227 passes, but the Gas had to come from behind to earn a point against their promotion rivals. The hosts were eager to turn the Pirates' defence with balls played in behind in transition, with Kane Hemmings' 56th-minute opener coming from goalkeeper Joe Murphy's long clearance.
Mellon was frustrated his defence allowed Elliot Anderson to equalise seven minutes later when the Newcastle United loanee levelled with a neat turn and finish into the bottom corner, but he said he felt largely comfortable despite his side seeing little of the ball and being outmanned in midfield.
"We understood they were going to have an overload with the system we play and we didn’t get caught up in that, really," he told the club's website. "We knew we would have to try to get them in a different area of the pitch with the two players we had up front, which is why we got the first one when we played it in behind them on the turnover with two strikers hunting it down and we scored a good goal.
"The game is not about possession. Until they change the rules and for every 20 passes you get a goal, then we’d have to go and contest that. The game is about what you do in both 18-yard boxes and I would have to say we had the better chances in both 18-yard boxes, I don’t think there’s any doubt about that.
"It’s about understanding the game and saying ‘You’re not a problem here if you want to knock it around your back four and play little triangles and that kind of stuff and then fire it into the box without anybody in it’.
"I’ve not got a problem with that, and it’s not a criticism, but I’ve got no problem if they get into wide areas and they fire it into the 18-yard box and don’t have a player in there, so that’s how we look at the game.
"But it was a really hard-fought game and a draw was probably a fair result. I think we had the better chances."
The Gas and Tranmere ended the afternoon in sixth and eighth place in League Two respectively, and both managers aired frustrations after the game. Barton felt his side could have found a winner in the closing stages, while Mellon was pained by Elliot Nevitt's spurned chance to make it 2-0 moments before the equaliser.
"It was a really hard-fought game with two teams going at it to get a victory, there’s no doubt about that," Mellon reflected.
"We got the lead and should make it two. That’s not a criticism but it’s what’s got to happen if you’re going to win these games. The margins are small and the 18-yard boxes are where the game counts and we had the opportunity to make it two and in these games you’ve got to take that.
"On the other side, disappointed that the ball’s bounced twice in the 18-yard box and the guy has taken a couple of touches in the middle of the goal and was still able to put it in. They are moments you have to get right and we just didn’t in two big key incidents."
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