TRANMERE Rovers interim head coach Ian Dawes felt his side's performance at Colchester United was a 'great foundation' from which to work after they played out a 1-1 draw in their first game since Micky Mellon's dismissal.

Rovers took the lead through Harvey Saunders' 13th-minute strike but Noah Chilvers' second-half penalty denied them victory, leaving the visitors in 14th spot in the League Two table.

Dawes, who was placed in temporary charge at Prenton Park after Mellon's departure, said: “It’s always disappointing not to win a game of football, regardless of how it goes.

“We always want to win and I think that’s got to be the mentality of our club and our players and staff.

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“But at the same time, we’ve got to look at the bigger picture of how we’re playing.

“Both teams went out to win the game.

“We’re building something new here and how we want to play and I see there are some really positive outcomes.

“It’s a great foundation to work from and I can’t wait to work with them again on Monday.

“We worked really hard on getting into the final third in possession of the ball this week, because it’s so important that we get control.

“It’s then that final bit of movement and decision making in the final third, which I think this group will get better at and we’ll create more chances from it.”

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Tranmere made a half-time change against Colchester, sending on Lee O'Connor for Rhys Hughes.

Dawes said the decision was not down to Hughes' performance but rather to freshen things up in midfield.

"We're going to have to make subs, because there is a physical demand on them and players are going to have to come out of that shape, because they have to put so much into it," added Dawes.

"It is going to have to be freshened up and I thought that was the right time to change it, not because of his performance but because of the principality of it.

"You can make five subs now and it was real lose between him and Lee.

"We looked at it for the energy and we could have 45 to 60 minutes of one player and then bringing the other player on and it's got to work like that, at times.

"Sometimes a player might be doing really well but his legs are just sapped."