SAM Allardyce moved to take the heat out of Wanderers' bitter rivalry with Tranmere today by insisting: "There is no rift between me and John Aldridge."

Relations between the clubs appeared to take a turn for the worse on Monday when the Reebok boss whisked his players in and out of Prenton Park at breakneck speed and without showering.

He later explained the bizarre approach to the game was designed to motivate his own players and not meant as a snub to Rovers. But media reaction following the 1-0 win - Wanderers' first success against the Birkenhead club in eight attempts - fanned the flames and led to suggestions that it was Allardyce's reaction to the unsporting behaviour he accused Aldridge of following last season's Worthington Cup semi-final.

But the manager, accused of "peculiar" behaviour by Tranmere chief executive Loraine Rogers, stressed: "There are some managers I like and some managers I don't like. But I lose enough sleep worrying about my own team's problems than worrying about whether other managers like me.

"The job is difficult enough.

"There is no rift but the suggestion that there is one has fuelled people in and around the football world and the Football League to suggest that we need to bury the hatchet. But there is no hatchet to bury.

"All we did was to go there, play a game and get away as quickly as we could. We did nothing wrong and we did our talking on the field.

"We got the idea of deliberately arriving late because it worked when we arrived late at West Brom after being stuck in traffic.

"I felt it was the right thing to do but we hung ourselves out to dry because, if it hadn't worked, people would have jumped on us. We took a gamble and the gamble paid off."

Despite the controversy and the reaction, which Allardyce insists was over the top, Wanderers could take the unconventional route again.

"One thing poeople will find out is that this probably won't be the only time we do it," he warned.

And in response to the "peculiar" jibe from the Rovers chief executive, he added: "Most managers have peculiar ways but it's not very flattering when the description comes from someone who doesn't know you."