“Even though we’ve lost these two games, there’s a lot of positives to take out”: Morecambe boss feels optimistic
Morecambe kick off the new year on Saturday with manager Ashvir Singh Johal looking to turn performances into points.
The Shrimps visit Altrincham on the back of consecutive defeats over the Christmas period, losing against promotion-chasing Rochdale and Carlisle United.
Those defeats kept them in the National League relegation places, three points from safety, after 15 losses in their 25 matches.
Morecambe have paid the price for the lack of a genuine goalscorer with missed chances proving costly at Carlisle.
Speaking after that game, Johal said: “The first 47 minutes, we could have scored two or three goals.
“We had the whole game, basically, in their half. They were camped on the edge of their box with 11 players.
“We missed a few chances; two that we should have scored, then there were two other opportunities where we missed the final pass so we could have had four clear-cut chances that we could have scored from.
“They have one clear-cut chance. It’s a ball across the box, we should have defended that better.
“Where we should have gone in 1-0, 2-0, 3-0 or 0-0, we go in 1-0 (down) and that changes the dynamic of the game.
“The mistake for the goal, it happens, but we’ve got to find a way to be better in those moments but the way we lost that game, if we took our chances in the first half then the game’s completely different.
“There’s a lot of positives to take. If we can work on those key moments, then I think the dynamics of games will be completely different.
“We’ve seen in the 45, 46 minutes today and the same against Rochdale, that we can be a really good team.”
The prospect of a third relegation in four seasons is a far cry from the Shrimps’ opening game of the season against Altrincham in August.
After a summer of turmoil, culminating in Panjab Warriors’ buyout and Johal named as Derek Adams’ replacement, a hastily-assembled Morecambe team beat the Robins 2-1 at the Mazuma Mobile Stadium.
Johal added: “I think the feeling within the group is completely different in the last two or three weeks than it has been before.
“Even though we’ve lost these two games, there’s a lot of positives to take out.”