Morecambe manager responds to criticism of his team selections

The Morecambe manager has responded to criticism of his team selections by some Shrimps’ supporters in recent weeks.

Morecambe recorded a vital 2-0 victory over Lancashire rivals Accrington Stanley on Thursday, just their third of the league season, to cut the gap to League One safety to four points.

That gap would be down to just one point if the Shrimps beat Burton Albion at the Mazuma Stadium on New Year’s Day.

There’s full commentary of the game on Shrimps Live on our FM and DAB+ services from 2:45pm.

Click here to listen to the latest episode of The Shrimps Verdict Podcast

Derek Adams has come into criticism and debate over what many fans believe to be too defensive a starting line-up, with the Shrimps often starting games with six recognised defenders.

Responding to this, Adams exclusively told Beyond Radio: ‘’I’ve done 650 games as a manager, and saved this football club going out of the Football Club and then out of League One.

‘’Nobody has to tell me anything about that, but you always listen and learn.

‘’A lot of people will now learn that sometimes when you pick a team and a formation, you do it for a reason.

‘’I’ll pick the bones out of other managers, they’ll do the same to me, that’s the nature of football, and that’s why we all have an opinion.’’

Defender, Max Melbourne, is likely to be absent for the Shrimps after he picked up a thigh injury in the first half on Thursday, while captain Donald Love is available again after suspension.

‘’Being clinical is important and to score the goals we did is fantastic, as is keeping a clean sheet against a side who always push forward,’’ added Adams.

‘’(The win), it’s massive and we’re trying to pick up as many points as we can. We’ve had a tough run of fixtures away from home and we feel we should have more points than we do.’’