TRANMERE boss Nigel Adkins was satisfied with a point despite Rovers conceding late on to play off chasing Gillingham. 

Tranmere led the game for 80 minutes and in the first half went deservedly ahead, but – following a Gillingham siege after the break – Adkins’ side defended robustly.

The club that sit 17th in in the table hurriedly thwarted any Gillingham opportunity and on top of their quality on the ball in the first half, showed strong character in the second.

Conor Masterson scored his sixth league goal of the season to rescue a point for the Gills against Rovers who went ahead in the fifth minute through Regan Hendry.

Gillingham thought they won it even later when Tim Dieng rifled the ball home at close range, but the linesman was quick to rule it out for a handball.

Adkins said: “It was a super finish and what a threat we are on the counter attack. We did really well and we nearly won in the end.

“I can’t speak highly enough. We missed our captain today (Tom Davies) and Connor Jennings stepped up to the mark and he was exceptional.

“When we talk about the team, together everyone achieves more. We have a culture; we want to learn and we want to improve.

“We have a team culture because there are players who have maybe not played and come in and put their body on the line for the cause, which is Tranmere Rovers Football Club.”

Rovers have nine games to go in the current campaign and Adkins is confident they can finish strongly despite them facing the daunting task of taking on two of League Two's top sides in Mansfield on Tuesday and Wrexham on Saturday. 

He added: "We've seen a team that is committed to the cause who are trying to play football the right way and we've got another 75 minutes out of big Luke Norris up front. 

"From when I took over in November we're second in the amount of league goals we've scored and we would have been fourth in the league.

"Consistently we're having a go and you could see that with that team performance that had the grit and resilience to grind out a result."