GRAHAM Alexander felt City showed character and courage to put their losing streak to bed.

Calum Kavanagh and Bobby Pointon scored the second-half goals in the 2-0 win over Tranmere at Valley Parade to end the costly run of four defeats.

Pointon, starting for the first time in two months, scored an absolute cracker to lift the mood as fans savoured a first home win in five.

Alexander said: “Everyone will be telling me, ‘I told you so’ and that’s great. Let’s hope he does the same on Monday and next week.

“We’ll give him the opportunities and he has to take them. But certainly that was a way to say, ‘gaffer I want to be in this team and help us win’.

“It was a fantastic goal. We were right behind it on the bench and were jumping as soon as it left his foot.

“We’ve had a difficult two weeks and had heavy criticism which has been justified because of our low performances in those games.

“Sometimes when you’re in a dark moment, it’s about facing up to it and not hiding away. I thought the players did that and showed brilliant courage on the ball on a really difficult pitch.”

Andy Cook missed out after taking a bang on his knee at Harrogate which only swelled up 48 hours after the game. He remains a doubt for Monday’s trip to Grimsby.

Pointon and Kavanagh were among four changes from last week. Striker Kavanagh returned from international duty after sitting on the bench for Republic of Ireland under-21s.

“He wants to play for us and for his country and that’s how a proper professional should be,” added the City boss.

“We were both frustrated he missed our two games to not be involved. But that’s the life of an international footballer – you can’t just expect to be picked.

“He showed again that he’s a good young player with the right ambition. He learns well and really takes in information and sometimes criticism.

“He tries to show his best and I think him and Tyler (Smith) caused them lots of problems with their movement and link-up play.

“The football we played, especially in the second half, was great testament to the courage of the team and their work ethic for each other.

“They showed they cared for their team-mates and they showed their true character. Our challenge is to continue to do that every single day.”