TRANMERE boss John Aldridge paid a glowing tribute to his defence after they successfully snuffed out the threat of Mark Hughes and Marcus Bent.

Forced to field an inexperienced back four with an average age of just 20, Aldo had feared the worst going into this clash.

But, after the two sides fought out a 1-1 draw, the former Liverpool legend was delighted with the way his young proteges past the test.

"It was a worry at the beginning of the game when I looked at their strike-force and their runners from midfield compared to our defence," said Aldridge.

"Richard Hinds is only 19, Clint Hill's 21, Reuben Hazell is 20 and Gareth Roberts is 21.

"But the lads came through with flying colours having to mark the quality of players that they marked.

"Everyone knows about the quality of Mark Hughes and they've just signed Marcus Bent for £2 million plus.

"But we restricted them to just one chance in the whole 90 minutes which says a lot about them."

With just one win to show from their previous 12 league games, Aldridge was more than satisfied with a point against Graeme Souness's promotion contenders.

"You've got to say it was a hard game for both sides," said Aldridge.

"We had our moments. The first half was a bit of a non-entity to be honest because we cancelled each other out.

"Then they took the lead but we showed an awful lot of character to get the equaliser.

"But I think a draw was probably the right result.

"If Paul Rideout had put that chance away just after they scored that might have stopped them right in their tracks because it would have been a killer blow for them.

"But we kept at it, rolled our sleeves up, and I got 100 per cent commitment out of the lads.

"And we ground a good result out from a top team who will probably be in the shake-up come the end of the season."