Port Vale manager Darren Moore felt a point was a fair reward as his side extended their unbeaten League Two run to nine games following a 1-1 draw with Tranmere at Prenton Park.
The home side took the lead after 18 minutes when a mix-up in the Vale defence allowed Kristian Dennis to fire into an empty net.
Rovers almost made it two when Josh Hawkes’ rasping effort was well saved by Ben Amos in the Vale goal.
But the visitors were level just before the half-hour mark when Ronan Curtis found the net from 10 yards with the help of a deflection.
Both sides had opportunities to snatch victory in the second half with Curtis being denied a second by Luke McGee and Lee O’Connor seeing his dipping effort pushed wide by Amos.
Despite being reduced to 10 men late on when Connor Wood received a second yellow card, Rovers held on for a valuable point in their battle to avoid relegation while Vale remain in the promotion mix.
Vale manager Darren Moore said: “We didn’t win the game but we didn’t lose the game and the boys are in a good spot at the moment.
“We picked up another point today, a valuable point, but in terms of our game in certain areas, we’re not happy.
“It was scrappy from both teams at times and we knew it would be like that. We just wanted to get through the first half an hour and then knew it would settle down.
“The lapse of concentration gifted them something to hold on to, but the response after that was excellent from us.
“I felt there were areas that we could exploit in the second half and though we got into those areas, a lack of quality on the ball left me a bit miffed.
“Yes, it’s nine unbeaten in the league now, but we’re just looking to the next game.
“We have been showing consistency lately, but today we lacked the ruthlessness that we needed.”
Interim Tranmere boss Andy Crosby, whose side are now without a win in 11 games, said: “I think we displayed some quality today, but that should be the absolute minimum.
“The effort and commitment was good, but that has to be the norm and the supporters recognised that.
“It was a tight game. We got ourselves in front and I thought we started the game really well, with and without the ball.
“We tried to put them under pressure as much as we could and were disappointed that we couldn’t hold onto the lead for longer.
“It’s a point, but that’s all it is. We have to build on the fundamentals of that performance and replicate that on Tuesday at Grimsby.
“A lot of things have been said in the past couple of days and words are easy, but it’s about actions and the players can be rightly happy with their performance today.
“The supporters will go home knowing that the players gave everything, which should be the minimum requirement.”
