TRANMERE Rovers manager Nigel Adkins has said he is trying to ignore the league table as his side prepare to take on fellow strugglers Forest Green Rovers.

Tranmere host the Gloucestershire outfit at Prenton Park on Saturday afternoon (3pm kick-off) with both teams desperate for the three points.

The visitors sit in 22nd place in League Two, one place above Adkins' and drew 1-1 at non-league Scarborough Athletic in their Emirates FA Cup First Round tie last week while Rovers lost 4-3 at League One Stevenage.

Adkins said: "Every game is a big game and every game we try and prepare the best we can to go and win.

"I've tried not to look at the league table and to focus on the game and try to everything we can to win it without losing the mindset about how important this game is.

"I think the crowd will get behind the team and this is very important. Prenton Park is going to be important for us this season - everyone has to come together and the cause is Tranmere Rovers Football Club."

Forest Green manager David Horseman confirmed during the week that he and his coaching team are currently dealing with up to 12 injuries, but Adkins believes the visitors will still provide a stern test.

"Every team will have injuries at this stage of the season," he said. "They like to play out from the back and they've got threats up front but we're trying to do as much as we can to focus on what we can do.

"We've got a couple of long-term injuries now and Joe Starbuck is going to be out for several weeks and unfortunately Paul Lewis picked up a hamstring injury at Stevenage and it looks like he's going to be out for several weeks as well. They're the two long-term injuries.

"We've got one or two little niggles which I'm not going to divulge at this moment in time but as far as I'm concerned, I'd like to think everyone's putting themselves forward in contention for the weekend."

Adkins will take charge of his first home game since being appointed permanent manager of the Club until the end of the 2025/26 season and after the stoppage-time defeat at Stevenage in the Emirates FA Cup last week, he is determined the side will carry the momentum from large parts of the performance into the Forest Green clash.

"Three goals away from home against a team who are flying high in League One is a positive," he said. "We played some really good football down there so we're trying to evolve and keep ourselves going but the process is exactly the same - we do everything we can to try and win a game of football. Afterwards we do a debrief and learn the lessons from the game - how can we keep improving and what did we do well. Then we draw a line underneath it, turn the page and move on ready for the next game. I've found that works well to make sure confidence and motivation stays high and belief in what we're doing is right."

" I want to win every game of football - the FA Cup is important but the fact of the matter now is we've got the league games to concentrate on and all our focus is on can we win the next game of football."