Bradford boss Mark Hughes remains determined to turn the tide as pressure mounted on him thanks to a late Tranmere goal in a dramatic 2-1 defeat at Prenton Park.
An 83rd-minute strike from substitute Kieron Morris was enough to secure the points for Rovers after Regan Hendry had seen his first-half effort cancelled out by Andy Cook after the break.
The result comes on the back of a 4-1 home defeat to Walsall which saw Hughes on the receiving end of boos from Bradford fans and once again the Bantams faithful vented their anger at the final whistle, chanting ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning’ as the teams left the field.
As for Rovers, the victory was just their third of the season as they look to move away from the League Two relegation places following a poor start to the campaign.
Hughes said: “We’re disappointed as I thought we should have been one or two goals to the good but we weren’t able to convert, especially in the first half.
“It was very evenly matched in the second half and it could have gone either way and they were helped by the performance of the referee who was absolutely hopeless.
“The penalty award was obviously a great clearance by Kevin McDonald and should never have been given and they fed off that.
“After getting back to 1-1 I thought we could go on and win the game. I’m disappointed in terms of the result but I thought the level and endeavour was good.
“We just need to clear our heads and come out the other side. Wins change everyone’s mentality so we’ve got to be strong and confident in what we are doing.
“We were the better team but didn’t get the result we wanted. We didn’t get the breaks but we’ve just got to move on.
“We’re all in this together and we all want to turn this around.”
Tranmere Interim Manager Nigel Adkins hailed the togetherness of his side.
“We did some really good things on Saturday but the scoreline speaks for itself,” Adkins said.
“As for today, you could see there was a togetherness and a determination and we played some good football at times.
“You could say we might be a bit fortuitous because on any other day the goalkeeper would probably have saved that.
“We were disappointed having conceded from a corner but we responded to that and that’s the most important thing, how you respond to disappointment.
“We scored a great goal through Kieron Morris who has been out of the team for a while, but as I always say to the players – be ready to take your chance when it comes and he’s done that.
“But for me tonight was about everyone doing everything they can for Tranmere Rovers and the club and the supporters and you could see that togetherness with the fans tonight, too.”
Fabian aiming for 'historic' Euro 2024 after impressive Spain comeback
Fabian Ruiz wants to "do something historic" for Spain after booking a place in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals with a 4-1 victory over Georgia in Cologne.
La Roja found themselves behind due to Robin Le Normand's 18th-minute own goal, but came from behind to register the biggest win margin from a losing position in the competition’s history.
Rodri got the equaliser in the first half, before Fabian, Nico Williams and Dani Olmo sealed the victory, with an eye-catching quarter-final against Germany next up for Spain.
Fabian praised Spain's spirit to come from behind and is already looking past their last-eight meeting with Germany.
"We played a great second half, the team gave everything on the pitch," Ruiz said.
"Germany? Any opponent is difficult. We know what a great team they are, that they play at home... but we are confident in ourselves, we are very excited, and we want to do something historic for our country."
Williams scored his first European Championships goal for the national team, also getting an assist in a standout performance.
Like Fabian, he has his sights firmly set on the big prize after making it four wins from four in the tournament.
"We are very happy to get through to the quarter-finals, very excited," he said.
"Step-by-step, we have shown that we are a great team and if we continue at this level, we can do great things.
"Their goal was a mistake, it was unintentional, we all cheered [Spain's own goalscorer] Robin [Le Normand] on and, in the end, we are all pleased and happy.
"[Germany will be] very difficult, they're a tough nut to crack, but we have a wonderful, well-structured team and if we play at this level we can win."
Euro 2024 Data Dive: England scrape through after late drama, Spain make statement
It was another dramatic day in the Euro 2024 knockout rounds, as two more teams booked their places in the quarter-finals.
England fought back from the jaws of defeat as they secured an extra-time win over Slovakia to set up a meeting with Switzerland in the last eight.
Meanwhile, Spain broke Georgia hearts with their comeback victory, and will play Germany in an eye-catching last-eight tie.
Here, we round up the best Opta statistics from the second day of the last 16.
England 2-1 Slovakia (aet): Bellingham, Kane prove late heroes
It looked like England were going to make an embarrassing early exit from the tournament, until Jude Bellingham stepped up with a spectacular overhead kick in stoppage time before Harry Kane netted the winner.
Timed at 94 minutes and 34 seconds, Bellingham's goal was the latest ever for England in normal time at the Euros, coming from the Three Lions' first shot on target after a largely toothless performance.
Kane, on his record-breaking 79th competitive appearance for England, got the timing right too, heading home just 50 seconds into extra time for the fastest goal scored in that period in the competition's history.
The England captain has now scored 14 goals at major tournaments (World Cup and Euros), with only four European players netting more than him – Cristiano Ronaldo (22), Miroslav Klose (19), Gerd Muller (18) and Jurgen Klinsmann (16).
It marked the fourth game that England have won from a losing position at the European Championships as well, after losing their first six such matches.
Only France (five) have ever won more matches when conceding first in the competition, and that late, late show left Slovakia stunned after being just moments from a famous victory in Gelsenkirchen.
Ivan Schranz's third goal at this Euros seemed set to take the headlines, with only Robert Vittek (four) at the 2010 World Cup ever scoring more at a single major tournament for Slovakia, but the forward will not get a chance to equal that record.
Spain 4-1 Georgia: La Roja march on with comeback win
Spain are the only team in the tournament to win all of their games so far, and survived an early scare to come out on top in Cologne thanks to second-half goals from Fabian Ruiz, Nico Williams and Dani Olmo.
Robin Le Normand's 18th-minute own goal saw Luis de la Fuente's side concede for the first time at Euro 2024, only for Spain to rally to the biggest margin of victory by a team that conceded first in the competition.
Spain amassed 17 shots on goal in the first half but only Rodri's first major tournament goal hit the net. It is the most on record (since 1980) by a team in the opening half of a European Championship knockout game.
Indeed, La Roja's 35 shots overall were their most in a single match at either the World Cup (since 1966) or the Euros.
It was the youngsters who stole the spotlight once more as Lamine Yamal got his second assist at the Euros, with Cristiano Ronaldo the last teenager to tee up multiple goals at a single edition (Euro 2004 when he helped Portugal reach the final).
Williams, meanwhile, became the first player on record at the European Championships (since 1980) to score a goal, assist another and complete 100% of his passes (46/46) in a game he started.
Georgia's fairytale was ended by a familiar, formidable foe as they have now lost all seven of their competitive meetings with Spain, conceding 23 goals and netting just four of their own.
Mbappe expecting broken nose to act as 'target' for Belgium at Euro 2024
Kylian Mbappe expects his broken nose to make him a "target" for Belgium at Euro 2024 on Monday.
France meet the Red Devils in Dusseldorf for their last-16 meeting, with Mbappe still not fully recovered from a nose injury sustained against Austria.
The Real Madrid-bound forward subsequently missed the Group D draw with the Netherlands before returning – armed with a new face mask – to score from the penalty spot against Poland.
Mbappe acknowledged his facial injury and subsequent protection makes him likely to face physical challenges in the knockout stages.
"I think that if you're playing with a broken nose and you haven't had your nose operated yet, you're a target," Mbappe told a pre-match press conference on Sunday.
"I knew what I was signing up for when I decided that I wasn't going to go home and that I wasn't going to get the operation done and that I was going to play.
"And maybe I'll get muscled a little bit and it might hurt. But I'm ready to give everything I can for this jersey and to help France go as far as possible.
"If this means that someone's going to hit my nose, so be it. It's already broken."
Mbappe's injury came from a clash in the Austria area as France scraped past Ralf Rangnick's side with a 1-0 win in their opener – Les Bleus' only victory so far at this Euros.
The France captain was left concerned whether he would feature again in Germany after the incident.
"When I got the blow to the face, I didn't really understand what was going on," Mbappe added. "I didn't feel that my nose was broken.
"It was when I looked at the goalkeeper and I saw his face and I thought 'something's wrong here'.
"When I got back to the dressing room, with everything that was happening around me, I thought that I was going home.
"Initially, it was difficult for me because there was a lot of information, lots of appointments, I didn't really sleep that much. I spent two nights without sleeping.
"And it was really difficult to sit on the bench against the Netherlands knowing that you're incapable of helping. I felt quite helpless. But, thankfully, I was able to play against Poland."
As for the face mask, Mbappe is still getting to grips with the protection ahead of the meeting with Belgium.
"Actually it's awful, horrible playing with a mask," he added. "I keep changing masks because every time there's something that bothers me, there's something that's not quite right.
"It's quite difficult to play with a mask because it limits your field of vision, your sweat clogs up. The first few days I felt like I was wearing 3D glasses.
"As soon as I can get rid of that mask, I will. But now I don't have a choice. I can't play without it. I hate it. It's really annoying and I've changed it more than five times.
"But I'm not making excuses because this is the only way I can play."
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