A wonder goal from Charlie Colkett helped Crewe put a three-game losing sequence behind them as a new year dawned.

The turnaround from Thursday night's tame surrender to Carlisle was marked as a battling effort protected the lead provided by the former Chelsea youngster, who hit a sweet volley over Tranmere keeper Ross Doohan in the 34th-minute.

Colkett's first goal for Crewe flicked a switch which changed the course of the game after Rovers had dominated the opening spell.

Micky Mellon's side found the going tougher after that as some tenacious defending kept the drama to a minimum.

Had Joel Tabiner and Bassala Sambou hit the target with simple chances late on then Lee Bell's first success since the confirmation of his permanent appointment would have been more comfortable.

Crewe had Conor Thomas dropping into the back four to cover the suspended Luke Offord and they were on the backfoot in the opening half an hour.

Kieron Morris unleashed a drive from 20 yards which Arthur Okonkwo did well to turn around, while Elliott Nevitt narrowly missed at the near post after good work at the byline by Kane Hemmings.

After the restart, a wayward punch from Doohan was almost punished by Regan Griffiths, whose ambitious volley diverted onto the roof of the Tranmere net.

Griffiths, making his first start since last March, was among Crewe's stand-out players along with the reliable Okonkwo, Rod McDonald and Lachlan Brook.

There was a moment of peril when sub Joel Mumbongo was picked out at the near post by Josh Dacres-Cogley's cross, but the frontman thumped a header high and wide.

There were also late Crewe misses from Tabiner, who replaced the injured Colkett, and Sambou, who should have done better after being put clear, only to slide his shot the wrong side of the post.

Bell said: "You can't question the effort of the players and we set them up in a way that was effective - we knew playing like that was going to give us the best chance of winning.

"It was unbelievable technique from Charlie and he has got real quality. I'm hoping the injury he has picked up isn't too bad.

"Regan [Griffiths] looked like a 30-year-old playing in the middle of the pitch. He has bided his time and shown his professionalism to come in and last a game like that. Now he has got to produce it every week.

"Our strikers were a menace, but they should have scored and they know that. They fulfilled their roles as centre forwards unbelievably well, until the end product. They got some chances and they have to try and put them away.

"We're not getting carried away as we want to breed a winning mentality."

Tranmere boss Mellon said: "We were so much on top until Crewe scored, but you have got to take your chances when those opportunities come up.

"But to be fair to Crewe, they got their blocks in and worked really hard. We weren't good enough to put the ball in the net. Their goal was disappointing as it was a poor header before the lad stuck it really well."