This weekend, Tranmere take on relegation threatened 
Coming on the back of a disappointing 3-1 defeat away to Hartlepool, Ronnie Moore will be hoping his side can produce their cup form in the league against a
Formed: 1890
Ground: The Fitness First Stadium
Manager: Kevin Bond
Nickname: The Cherries
Season Finish 2006/07: 19th (Coca-Cola League One)
Previous Meetings:
Last season, the home side won each meeting between the two sides and kept a clean sheet in the process, as the away fans, players and staff made a long journey home empty handed.
The first meeting between the two sides last season was at
The only goal of the game was scored just before half time by Rovers left-winger Kevin Ellison, who was Rovers best player on the day.
Shane Sherriff's deep corner was headed back across goal by Gareth Taylor towards Ellison, who netted from close range with his head, before the former Rovers number 11 hit the bar with another header just two minutes later.
It was a different story at
Around 300 fans travelled down from the Wirral to watch the game and they were to leave thoroughly disappointed with their team's display, as Rovers played out the whole 90 minutes without having a single shot on target.
The first goal came very early on, as Fletcher flicked the ball on to McGoldrick after beating Goodison in the air and the
Goodison however was booked for some reason and after the confusion had died down, James Hayter stepped up to take the spot kick and comfortably put the ball past Ward to make it 2-0.
Rovers defender Goodison was later sent off in the match as he received another debatable yellow card, as McGoldrick went down having run straight into the Rovers defender who had no time to get out of the way.
Vital Stats:
In 20 meetings between Tranmere and Bournemouth at Prenton Park, Rovers have won seven times whilst Bournemouth have picked up six wins
Bournemouth have scored one more goal than Tranmere in their meetings at Prenton Park, having netted on 22 occasions
The home side hasn't conceded in five of the last six meetings between the two sides at any venue
Rovers and Bournemouth have met three times before in the month of December, with Rovers coring at least two goals on each occasion
Out of the 41 meetings between the two sides, 32 of them have come in Division Three (under it's various names)
On This Day:
2001: Rovers hammer Carlisle United 6-1 in the second round of the F.A. Cup, with Jason Koumas getting a hatrick for Dave Watson's side
1998: Tranmere drew 1-1 with Crystal Palace in Division One at Selhurst Park
1973: Brighton Hove Albion make the long trip to Prenton Park but leave empty handed following a 4-1 defeat in Division Three
On December 8th, Tranmere have won five times and picked up one draw along with seven defeats. In 13 games, they have scored 25 goals and conceded on 26 occasions.
The Form Book:
Tranmere last 6 home games: LLWDDD
Bournemouth last 6 away games: LLDDWL
In the first game of
However, this was their last win away from home and indeed they have only picked up one win in eight games since, this coming against non-league side Barrow in the F.A. Cup at
The initial game against Barrow was drawn 1-1 before the Cherries then drew 1-1 away at
Bournemouth then lost 2-1 in the F.A. Cup Second Round to Millwall, again, before losing away to Yeovil by the same score line on Tuesday night when Rovers were losing to
Other notable away results for the
From nine away league games,
At home they are yet to win a league match in nine attempts but they did win 2-0 at home to
To say that Tranmere's form has been disappointing at home this season would be an understatement, as they come into this game having one just one of their last six outings at Prenton Park.
In their six match sequence, Tranmere firstly drew 2-2 with
A third draw in a row began to frustrate the Rovers fans however, as they claimed a point for a 0-0 draw with Walsall, before Rovers improved to hammer a poor Huddersfield side 3-0 at Prenton Park on a Friday night.
Tranmere have followed this with two home defeats without scoring however, as they lost to both
Other notable home results for Tranmere include wins over Brighton and Hove Albion (2-0) and
From nine home league games, Tranmere have picked up three wins, three draws and three defeats, meaning they have managed just 12 points from an available 27.
Notable away results for Ronnie Moore's side include wins over Southend United (2-1),
Double Hit:
Other than former Northern Ireland international Colin Clarke, who played for Tranmere and Bournemouth during the 1980's, very few players have represented the two clubs.
One such player however is former Aston Villa defender Shaun Teale, who, due to the lack of players to have represented the two clubs, was also featured in this section of last seasons Match Preview for the same fixture.
Teale began his career with Weymouth, but in 1988 he made a £50,000 transfer to another south coast side in the shape of Bournemouth.
In well over 100 appearances for the Cherries, Teale scored four goals and his talent didn't go un-noticed as he made a £300,000 transfer to Aston Villa in 1991.
In four years, Teale made over 150 appearances for the Villains, and in 1995 he joined Tranmere Rovers, then under John King and with big-spending chairman Peter Johnson at the helm, for £450,000, an amount that is still a club record transfer fee.
Whilst at Prenton Park, Teale made 62 appearences, of which 54 appearences were in the league. Shaun spent three years on Merseyside before being transfered to Motherwell after loan spells with Preston North End and Sing Tao.
One To Watch: Jo Kuffour
Former Arsenal trainee Jo Kuffour joined Bournemouth in the summer from relegated Brentford as a replacement for the out going James Hayter who signed for Doncaster.
Kuffour however failed to make an appearance for the Gunners and after a loan spell at Swindon Town yielded just two goals in 13 appearances, the striker joined Torquay United in October 2002.
The 26 year old stayed at Torquay for four years and the club was consistently battling against relegation as well as regularly changing managers and on a few occasions owners.
Having played 160 games for the Gulls and netted on 33 occasions, Kuffour left the south coast side for League One side Brentford in the summer of 2006 on a free transfer.
However, Kuffour stayed with the Bee's for just one season, as they were relegated to Coca-Cola League Two in May 2007. He did however have more success in front of goal for the London side, netting 14 goals in 44 appearances.
Having left Brentford, Kuffour opted to stay in League One with a move to Bournemouth in June 2007, another team who looked set for a relegation battle.
Kuffour has now played 23 games for the Cherries but the Canadian born striker has netted just four goals, although he has spent time on the wing where he is less effective.
The Bournemouth number 10 has pace and trickery to go with an eye for the spectacular goal, and it was his cross that created Brentford's goal in Rovers 1-1 draw at Griffin Park last season.
If Antony Kay doesn't start at centre-back for Rovers, Ben Chorley and Ian Goodison could struggle to cope with Kuffour's pace, although he could well play on the wing for Kevin Bond's side.
Around League One:
There are, as ever, a number of big and exciting looking fixtures around Coca-Cola League One this weekend.
Starting as usual with Tranmere Rovers, the Wirral side could move up as high as seventh place should they win on Saturday, such is the tightness of Coca-Cola League One.
At the other end however Bournemouth are now six points off safety as they lie in 23rd place, and a defeat for them at Prenton Park would leave them lying bottom of the League One table should Port Vale manage to pick up at least a point away to Gillingham, a place which very few sides have come away from with three points this season.
There is a Yorkshire derby at Elland Road where Leeds United, back on form following a 3-0 win at home to Port Vale on Tuesday, take on Huddersfield Town who lost 4-1 at Roots Hall against Southend on Wednesday night, when a win would have taken them above Tranmere.
Another derby see's England play Wales at the Memorial Ground where Bristol Rovers take on high flying Swansea, currently top of League One.
Doncaster Rovers have the short trip across the Penines to make as they take on Oldham Athletic, a game which could see Oldham move to just one point behind Tranmere and with a game in hand, whilst Doncaster can move from seventh and into the play-off places with a win.
Southend United meet cash-strapped Swindon at Roots Hall as they look to build on their midweek 4-1 thrashing of Huddersfield and move back up into the automatic promotion spots by the end of the weekend, whilst Carlisle United, the second placed team in League One, face a tough away trip to Northampton Town who have won four of their nine home games and lie in 19th place in League One.
Leyton Orient have a home game against struggling Cheltenham Town and could move back above Carlisle United with a win, whilst one of the games of the weekend sees Nottingham Forest, currently in fourth place, make the long journey south to take on in form Brighton and Hove Albion who are just three points and four places above Tranmere in the League One table.
Team News:
Again Rovers could have a number of players from missing from this League One clash. Adnan Ahmed is out with a hamstring injury whilst Steve Davies (knee ligaments) is also out. Carl Tremarco returns from suspension whilst Andy Taylor plays the last game of his one month loan spell unless Rovers extend the deal. Chris Shuker (dead leg) and Robbie Stockdale (calf) are also both doubtful for the game whilst Goodison could miss out.
Jones' Prediction: Tranmere Rovers 0-1
This will be another tough match for Tranmere and it is a game that they really need to win if they are to keep in touch with the play-off places, even at such an early stage in the season.
They need to turn their form around, but with a run of five league games without a win and only one goal in that time behind them, confidence is sure to be low in the camp and in front of the goal the strikers just don't look certain.
This game could well turn out like the
One thing that is for sure however is that if Rovers and especially their defence play anything like they did against