Jim Bentley hailed the “grit and determination” of his Rochdale team following a hard-earned League Two draw at in-form Tranmere.

Manager Bentley, who took charge in August after Rochdale’s dire start to the campaign, is progressively steadying a listing ship.

This point followed successive away victories and a team that was marooned at the foot of the table after nine games is out of the bottom two and in touch with a handful of sides above them.

Rochdale rode their luck on Merseyside after grabbing a 35th-minute lead through the evergreen Ian Henderson’s first goal of the season.

But Kane Hemmings headed an equaliser four minutes later and Tranmere, who remain in ninth position, dominated the second 45 minutes without finding a winner.

“There was grit and determination and organisation, players emptying the tank and putting in a shift for us,” said Bentley.

“We have to be pleased.

“You have to scrap and battle for every point in this division.

“We know how difficult it is when you come to one of the best sides in the league.

“It is a really tough place to come, the crowd get all over you and once that home end gets up and at it, they drive the players on.

“We had to dig in and find a way, we are scrapping for points.

“They continued to ask questions of us [for the entire game], more so in the second half.

“I was pleased with the rear-guard effort and the desire.

“The fans want a team they can be proud of and I think the players can be proud of their efforts tonight.”

Tranmere are undefeated in seven matches but that is two draws on the spin after an identical result at Harrogate on Saturday.

Manager Micky Mellon was incredulous over the outcome after his team rained 15 attempts on the visitors’ goal.

But the Scot remained upbeat following another bright, purposeful performance – save for a modicum of disappointment over the manner in which Henderson was left alone to rifle home.

“We got caught square at the back with a ball flipped in behind,” said Mellon, whose side are two points and two places outside the play-off positions.

“We will look closely at it but I like to keep those things between me and the team.

“In terms of performance, we were relentless and kept going. We just couldn’t find the final touch you need.

“I don’t think there’s a person in the stadium who wouldn’t think we were the better team by a country mile.

“Rochdale were hanging on and will give themselves credit.

“But credit to our boys, they weren’t quite good enough to put the ball in the net but I couldn’t fault them.

“I was disappointed they didn’t get their just rewards for all their good work.”