JOHN McGinlay is all set to continue his rich vein of scoring form as Wanderers put their table-topping status to another searching test at Burnden tonight.

The Scots goal star refuses to let anything as trivial as a bruised Achilles tendon keep him out of what is likely to be another full-blooded tussle against Tranmere.

He has been nursed through training since suffering the injury in Saturday's 3-1 victory over Oldham but Colin Todd is anticipating no hitches as he prepares to name another unchanged side.

Scott Taylor remains on standby as a precaution with the Burnden boss confident enough in the young Londoner's ability to proclaim: "I'd have no reservations about putting him in from the start, if I had to.

"But John's okay. He trained yesterday but only did a light session. We didn't want him to get another knock on it.

"At the moment no-one wants to miss games. The players are enjoying it so much ... and rightly so."

McGinlay, who has taken his season's total to seven with four goals in the last two games, will continue alongside nine-goal Nathan Blake in what is expected to be another serious examination of the Burnden firepower. Wanderers anticipate life being tougher against fourth-placed Tranmere than it was against bottom club Oldham but Todd says they are prepared for any challenge to their leadership.

"We're up there and people are going to try to knock us off," the Burnden boss acknowledged.

"It's up to us to be strong enough, professional enough and to be prepared to play as we know we can. You never get two games alike; football throws up all sorts of different challenges.

"Tranmere are going to be patient and will try to frustrate us so we might have to be patient ourselves. The crowd will realise that.

"But we are going out there with a purpose, just as we went out with a purpose against Oldham, and if we apply ourselves properly, we'll take some beating."

Rovers player-manager John Aldridge, who is also on the nine-goal mark, will give precautionary fitness checks to defenders Shaun Teale and Alan Rogers but he too is likely to be in a position to name an unchanged line-up in the wake of Saturday's hard-fought scoreless draw at Sheffield United.

Probable line-ups:

Wanderers: Branagan, Bergsson, Phillips, Frandsen, Taggart, Fairclough, Johansen, Sellars, Blake, McGinlay, Thompson. Subs Lee, Todd, Taylor.

Tranmere: Coyne, Stephens, Rogers, Thorn, Teale, O'Brien, Irons, Aldridge, Brannan, Bonetti.

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