Barkhuizen hopes Morecambe keep up their attacking intent

Tom Barkhuizen hopes Morecambe don’t have to sacrifice any of their attacking verve in a bid to tighten up at the back.
Tom Barkhuizen tries to take on his man against Northampton.Tom Barkhuizen tries to take on his man against Northampton.
Tom Barkhuizen tries to take on his man against Northampton.

The former Blackpool man has been a big part of The Shrimps looking as good going forwards as they ever have done under Jim Bentley.

But gaps have increasingly opened up defensively, culminating in the 4-2 defeat at home to Northampton on Saturday.

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Barkhuizen said: “We’re very good going forwards but we have conceded a lot of goals, so whether we need to adapt and be more defensive I’m not sure.

“It’s not my decision, but I’d like to think we’d stay with our attacking intent. Going forwards we’re playing really well.

“But on Saturday they could have been 7-0 up at the start of the second half, it was getting borderline ridiculous.

“We’re all disappointed but we’ll come back next week and hopefully get a win.”

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Barkhuizen, who scored his third Shrimps goal in the Northampton defeat, knows ultimately a balance needs to be found.

The in-form wide man said: “You can’t please everyone and at the end of the day it’s all about results.

“Whether you grind it out like we did at Newport where we played absolutely horrifically or play great going forwards like we did on Saturday but we leave gaps open at the back we just need to find that middle ground.”

Next up is a trip to Oxford on Saturday with Barkhuizen hoping The Shrimps can recapture some of the sizzling counter attacking form they showed at Portsmouth and Yeovil.

He said: “Our away performances have been good.

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“We’ve probably looked a bit more of a threat because we’re so quick on the counter attack but whether we need to try and do that at home I don’t know.

“We’ll have a good week training and then go again.”