Tranmere succumbed to a surprise defeat in League two last night, missing a chance to move up into fourth position.
They travelled to Oldham Athletic with the Latics on their third permanent manager of the season. Having won seven consecutive matches and remaining unbeaten in nine, Micky Mellon's side were red hot favourites to close the gap on the top three.
Instead, a Callum Lang brace shocked the visitors, proving that the gap between the top seven and the chasing pack is very small indeed. It was an engrossing game, one in which Tranmere never threw in the towel but were certainly not at their best.
Tranmere travel to Newport this weekend before season-defining matches against Forest Green in sixth, MK Dons in second and a visit to leaders Lincoln City.
Micky Mellon will have learnt plenty about his team to take into those matches last night, as we explore here.
Failure to feed James Norwood is fatal
He was looking for his sixth goal in as many games last night, but the division's leading scorer barely got a sniff.
The service up to him wasn't good enough and if he doesn't have ammunition, he can't fire them into the top three.
Poor away record bites back
Their away record isn't impressive, they've done worse on their travels than Northampton Town who are ten places and fifteen points behind them.
Their recent run has propped up some worrying numbers, but last night they were once again found wanting on the road.
They had only won once in eleven away games prior to their impressive run.
Resilience
Despite the damaging result, Micky Mellon's side fought right up to the end.
Connor Jennings, the often under-valued player in their attack, almost created a late consolation.
The game was dead and gone by then, but they kept fighting and they'll need that spirit in the next six matches.