Bentley: Hughes had to go

Boss Jim Bentley admitted Mark Hughes was always going to see red after his dismissal in Morecambe's 2-1 defeat at Tranmere.

Hughes was given his marching orders in the 63rd minute for nudging his head towards Rovers sub Kayode Odejayi having begun his afternoon with the opening goal in the 39th minute. By the time he had seen red Tranmere were already level after Cole Stockton capitalised on sloppy defending to pull them level in the 58th minute and the striker would return to hit the winner. The 20-year-old pounced in the last minute of normal time from a Matt Hill free-kick and Shrimps boss Bentley was left frustrated by the actions of his skipper as they finally lost in League Two. "If you do that type of movement with your head then you are leaving yourself wide open whether there is contact or not," said Bentley. "We knew it would be backs against the wall from there and we dug in and threw bodies on the line but we fell just below the line. "We have lost our 100 per cent record but we have to make sure we bounce back after we pick the bones out of this. "We have been on a decent run but we know Tranmere are a good footballing side so we had to make sure our shape was good. "They didn't cause us too many problems in the first half despite them having the majority of the ball during the first 45. "They created a couple of chances and took one but the turning point was the sending off and we couldn't cling on for a point." Victory marked Tranmere's first at Prenton Park this season and Rovers boss Rob Edwards insists, with Stockton up front, they'll always be a handful no matter who the opposition is. "Cole is the man who can put the ball in the net for us at the moment," he said. "The guy has a goalscoring threat in him. "I admired the players' determination and they kept passing the ball around. We moved it quickly and to get a goal at the end was fantastic. "We all need to pull together as a club and back the players more. We needed a home win and we needed a good performance. "We gave a good performance in the first half and we came in a goal down. I told the players to keep believing. This is a great football club and we need to take it forward. "You have to keep your nerve and the fans kept theirs because they could see we were playing well. The sending off changed the game; it was a huge turning point. We kept our composure and got the second goal." Breaking news, transfer gossip, line ups and goal alerts from your football club - delivered direct to your mobile. Sign up for Sky Sports Alerts