BARNES PLEASED BY FIRST HALF DISPLAY.

TRANMERE were handed praise and a warning by manager John Barnes after marching through to the second round of the Carling Cup at Prenton Park last night.

Barnes hailed his players for a first half performance in which three goals but fired a warning that his team could pay dearly in the future for the over elaboration that marked their second half efforts.

WARNING: John Barnes said: "It was a great performance in the first half in terms of how I want the team to play.

"I know that the way we played in the second half could cost us.

"I said to them at half time that we had to play the same way, that we couldn't over elaborate and couldn't have any individuals deciding they wanted to be the icing on the cake by doing something special.

"Unfortunately that's exactly what we did. It gifted Grimsby three opportunities and if it wasn't for Luke Daniels making saves on one-on-one situations the outcome could have been different."

Barnes added: "The lesson is we don't play the score, we play the game. If you are 3-0 up or 3-0 down you have to keep believing in what you are doing. It's difficult to forget what the score is but we have to recognise what it was that put us three goals ahead.

"It was a great performance in the first half in terms of who I want them to play. We moved the ball around well, got people into the right areas and everyone was looking for the ball."

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WARNING: John Barnes