Nigel Adkins claimed his Tranmere side were together and enjoying themselves after recording a 5-1 League Two victory away to 10-man Salford.
Harvey Saunders, Kieron Morris, Connor Jennings, Regan Hartley and Josh Hawkes were on target as Tranmere recorded their first away win of the season.
Matthew Lund scored Salford’s only goal which had little impact in the context of an otherwise one-sided performance, while the hosts lost Conor McAleny to a 72nd-minute red card.
Tranmere have lost one of their last eight in the league after losing four in a row prior to their current purple patch.
A delighted Adkins said: “When the team is together, everyone achieves more. Everyone is understanding their roles and responsibilities, stepping up, talking and organising each other.
“We enjoy being resilient, we enjoy grafting and working hard and we enjoy being physical. The lads were good with that and yes, we’ve got an away win. It’s been a long time coming and the fans were great.
“I thought we were outstanding, first half in particular. Our defensive shape, our resolve, our organisation to be aggressive while we go and press was great.”
“Harvey Saunders was a massive threat all the way through. I can’t speak highly enough of Connor Jennings.
“The way we pressed as a team in a compact shape, to press aggressively was great. Salford want to pass it and we nullified that in a big way. We were such a threat.
“We scored five but we could have scored seven or eight.”
The result leaves Salford winless in their last eight league games.
After defeat, under-fire Ammies head coach Neil Wood did not speak to the media – leaving such responsibilities to goalkeeper Alex Cairns.
Cairns said: “We need to stick together now more than ever. It wasn’t good enough all over the pitch, we need to bounce back with a much better performance than that and people need to stick their chest out and start putting performances in.
“We’ve always been in games, but today we were down and out and that’s the first time I’ve seen that from this group.
“The leaders within that dressing room need to keep this group together and that’s the fundamentals of football.
“We have to expect better and demand better.
“We’ve been very unfortunate with injuries – and that’s not an excuse it’s just a fact. The results haven’t been there.”
Wood could well be on the brink of losing his job, but Cairns insisted that his attitude to turn things around would remain the same, no matter who was in charge.
He added: “I could have a horrible relationship with any manager, but I don’t care who is in charge.
“I just want to be better and none of us were good enough but there’s a good group of lads in there.”
No Neymar return until 2025, says Al-Hilal boss Jesus
Neymar will not return from his anterior cruciate ligament injury until January 2025 at the earliest, Al-Hilal boss Jorge Jesus has warned.
Neymar left Paris Saint-Germain for Al-Hilal in a €90million deal in August 2023, becoming one of the faces of the Saudi Pro League's major recruitment drive.
However, he only played five matches for the club before rupturing his ACL while on international duty with Brazil last October.
The 32-year-old subsequently missed the remainder of the season as well as the Selecao's ill-fated Copa America campaign, and he remains some way away from a return.
Neymar was removed from Al-Hilal's Saudi Pro League squad in September, with the 19-time champions only able to register a maximum of eight foreign players for the first half of the season.
Reports had suggested Neymar was close to a return after Al-Hilal posted footage of him training on social media, but Jesus says Brazil's all-time leading scorer must wait until the halfway point of the campaign before being considered.
"Neymar is an important player for Al Hilal and the league in general," Jesus told reporters on Tuesday.
"I can't, however, specify a date as to when he will return, but we will look at the situation in January."
With no restrictions on foreign players featuring in the AFC Champions League, Neymar could, in theory, play in that competition if he returns to fitness before January.
Al-Bukayriyah 0-1 Al-Hilal: Leonardo sends defending King's Cup champions through
Marcos Leonardo's first-half penalty was enough to book Al-Hilal a spot in the King's Cup round of 16 with a 1-0 win over Al-Bukayriyah.
The defending champions dominated from the start, with Abdullah Al Hamddan and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic both seeing early efforts saved by Dziugas Bartkus.
Al Hamddan then won the game-winning spot-kick in the 40th minute, being brought down in the box by Ibrahim Al Sunaytan, and Leonardo made no mistake from 12 yards.
Al-Hilal kept pushing for another goal, with substitutes Renan Lodi and Aleksandar Mitrovic both testing Bartkus in the second half, but they could not add to the scoreline.
Neymar, who is gearing up for his return to action after a year on the sidelines, was not involved for Al-Hilal, who lead the way in the Saudi Pro League.
Data Debrief: Leonardo proves the difference
Al-Hilal were dominant in the first half, completely overwhelming their opponents as they had 12 of their 17 shots before the break, getting five of those on target.
But across the 90 minutes, it was Leonardo who was the standout, having the second-most shots (three) and accumulating 0.82 expected goals (xG).
His only shot on target may have been the winning penalty, but he proved a handful as he also had the most touches in the opposition box (10).
Al-Bukayriyah 0-1 Al-Hilal: Leonardo sends defending King Cup champions through
Marcos Leonardo's first-half penalty was enough to book Al-Hilal a spot in the King Cup round of 16 with a 1-0 win over Al-Bukayriyah.
The defending champions dominated from the start, with Abdullah Al Hamddan and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic both seeing early efforts saved by Dziugas Bartkus.
Al Hamddan then won the game-winning spot-kick in the 40th minute, being brought down in the box by Ibrahim Al Sunaytan, and Leonardo made no mistake from 12 yards.
Al-Hilal kept pushing for another goal, with substitutes Renan Lodi and Aleksandar Mitrovic both testing Bartkus in the second half, but they could not add to the scoreline.
Neymar, who is gearing up for his return to action after a year on the sidelines, was not involved for Al-Hilal, who lead the way in the Saudi Pro League.
Data Debrief: Leonardo proves the difference
Al-Hilal were dominant in the first half, completely overwhelming their opponents as they had 12 of their 17 shots before the break, getting five of those on target.
But across the 90 minutes, it was Leonardo who was the standout, having the second-most shots (three) and accumulating 0.82 expected goals (xG).
His only shot on target may have been the winning penalty, but he proved a handful as he also had the most touches in the opposition box (10).
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
