Sam Ricketts (6) – Poor with possession. Quite a few long balls aimed at Duffy instead of even picking out the target man. Rarely got forward to support the right winger.
Andy Dawson (7) – Gets involved a lot going forwards, usually the only player able to start up an attack.
Michael Turner (6) – Got in a spot of bother once or twice. Variable distribution.
Sam Collins (6) – Looks a bit sluggish but can use a lack of match fitness as an excuse.
Ryan France (7) – Put in the best cross of the match for Burgess to head in. Frustrating that we didn't put more crosses in. Did better on the right than when he was switched to the left.
Stuart Elliott (6) – Wasn't having a particularly great game but our shape and momentum were lost when he went off.
David Livermore (6) – Didn't have a good game. Only wanted the ball on his left side, and rarely passed beyond players on the left flank or back to the centre backs.
Dean Marney (5) – Contributed nothing. Was sloppy with the ball and lost possession cheaply in bad areas. Didn't have any ideas going forwards and didn't make the runs to spark an attack. The goal opened up for him to have a 20-yard effort on two occasions but he either took an extra touch or played it out wide instead of having a go, and had a timid shot on goal from a great chance 8 yards out. Has to improve if he's to be our source of attack through the middle of the park.
Ben Burgess (7) – Still lacking fitness and tried lots of things that didn't come off, but he took his goal well and this gave him the confidence to have an inspired next 10 minutes, in which he almost netted three more times. Good to see him get through 90 minutes as well, even if he struggled to sustain his performance for the whole time.
Craig Fagan (6) – Played better after being switched to the wing, having failed to get in the game up front.
Subs
John Welsh (5) – Was poor. Looked to be out of his stride after being dropped from the starting eleven recently and didn't do much to win his place back.
Darryl Duffy (6) – Scored a good goal, which will hopefully kick-start him into some form, but didn't achieve much else.
Jon Parkin (6) – Was his usual 'beastly' self, but wasn't really on the end of anything (besides a couple of Tranmere players).