John Aldridge was eight years old when he went to his first Liverpool match. He was so small, his father Bill stood him on a milk-crate so he could peer through the mass of heads in the paddock in front of Anfield's old Main Stand.

Southampton were beaten 2-1 that January day in 1967, and the memories have stayed with him ever since: from the smell of Woodbines wafting across the vast old terraces, to his lightheaded exaltation at hearing the Kop voice its approval for the first time.

"I always thought Anfield was a place more beautiful than heaven," he says. "Even when it was empty it used to send a shiver down my spine."

The same may not be said of Prenton Park, but tomorrow, when Liverpool make the short hop to Birkenhead, the wave of anticipation engulfing Tranmere Rovers' modest abode promises to emulate the heady moments he savoured across the Mersey.

A few years ago the match might have been likened to a chess beginner sitting across the table from Garry Kasparov. But underestimating Tranmere has become a perilous business. Seven Premiership sides have fallen to the first division men over the past two seasons, and the weight of expectation is such that Aldridge is finding it hard to sleep.

Ever since that awesome 4-3 comeback against Southampton two weeks ago the 42-year-old Tranmere manager has had a thankless task keeping his players focused on anything but tomorrow's match. He even threatened to fine anyone who uttered the L-word. But as a lifelong Liverpool fan who scored 63 goals in 104 games in the famous red jersey, it has been impossible not to get caught up in the emotions himself.

"We must have seven or eight staunch Liverpool supporters in our squad," Aldridge says. "Andy Parkinson and Gareth Roberts both played with Michael Owen in the Liverpool youth team. My lad Paul is on the books here and whenever he gets the chance he follows Liverpool home and away. And then there's me: I've had some of the greatest moments of my life with that club."

It is difficult to pinpoint the greatest memory of all. Perhaps the league championship in 1987-88, or the following season's FA Cup. Yet Aldridge also recalls his farewell match, a September night in 1989 when Liverpool's last truly great team crushed Crystal Palace 9-0.

He began the match on the bench but Kenny Dalglish sent him on in the last few minutes, specifically to take a penalty. Everyone knew he was leaving for Real Sociedad and it was to be his final goal beneath the Kop.

"That will stay with me forever," he says. "I was almost naked by the time I left the pitch; the boots, shirt and socks had all been thrown into the crowd. Afterwards, when I got into the dressing-room, I just broke down."

Whatever tomorrow's outcome more tears will probably be shed, whether in anguish or, more likely, pride. Tranmere may languish at the foot of Division One, but the past 12 months have been the most illustrious in the club's history.

"Going around the Wirral, you see so many children in Tranmere shirts now," says the club's chairwoman, Lorraine Rogers. "It's no longer just the red of Liverpool or the blue of Everton.

"A few years ago it was so unusual to see a (white) Tranmere shirt you would slow your car down to point one out. This season we've had our highest average crowd for at least 35 years, and so many more people are proud to be associated with this club."

Such has been the clamour for tickets for Liverpool's visit, the club have had to draft in temporary staff for their ticket office. The tie could have sold out two or three times over.

"Tickets went on general sale last Sunday," Rogers says, "and they were queuing up from 5 a.m., three or four deep all the way around the ground. I suspect a lot of Tranmere fans started off as Reds and maybe under the surface are still slightly pink. Or Liverpool are their first club but they can't afford the tickets there, and Tranmere are more accessible. We certainly took a lot of Liverpool fans down to Wembley for last season's Worthington Cup final."

There is a feeling here that, a year ago, Tranmere did not get the credit they deserved, especially given that nine months earlier the club had been teetering on the brink of insolvency. In fact, their giantkilling exploits in the last 18 months are one of the great success stories of recent times. As well as Southampton, they have taken the scalps of Everton, Middlesbrough, Sunderland, West Ham, Coventry and Leeds.

It is a peculiarity, therefore, that the bread and butter of Division One life has gone so stale of late. "Why that is I just don't know," Aldridge says. "We've become a great cup team but one that struggles in the league. I wish I was a psychoanalyst but I'm not and I don't understand it."

For now, though, the trials of the first division's relegation skirmish can be forgotten. Outside Prenton Park there are reminders everywhere that something special is in the offing - from scallies touting tickets in the car park, to the two white-haired ladies in the bakery round the corner debating who will score the goals, Paul Rideout or Stuart Barlow.

"I don't think anyone in the area is talking about anything else," Aldridge says. "Put simply, it's the biggest match in Prenton Park's history."