Morecambe boss: Late goals show the level of opposition this season

During the last month, the Shrimps have shipped two stoppage-time strikes against Bolton Wanderers and conceded in the 87th minute to Ipswich Town.

In all, Morecambe have conceded eight game-changing goals after the 75th minute of matches so far this season.

Four of them – the home and away games against Bolton and Ipswich – have seen winning positions turned into draws.

Gillingham, AFC Wimbledon, Doncaster Rovers and Wycombe Wanderers have also scored late against the Shrimps, converting probable draws into defeats.

Those goals have seen Morecambe squander 12 points, a haul which would have seen them sitting in lower mid-table.

It’s a stark contrast to last season when Adams’ class of 2020/21 netted 18 times in the final quarter-hour.

The manager said: “They are playing in a different league and the quality in this league is very high.

“There’s a lot of very good teams and the difference between League Two and this league is the quality of players.

“League One is of an extremely high quality this year with a number of teams who have played in the Championship and the Premier League.

“The quality is there for everyone to see and it’s a really good league to be part of.”

Had the Shrimps taken those dozen points, they would only be four or five away from the survival target set by former manager Stephen Robinson.

Adams, however, doesn’t work on the basis of setting targets.

He explained: “You get to this stage of the season where people at the top end and the bottom end of the table get nervous.

“That’s why you sometimes see the results you do: there are shocks along the way and you can never predict what might happen.

“When I was a player at Aberdeen, the manager at the time – Jimmy Calderwood – asked us to put a points total together.

“I put one together where we drew against the Old Firm and won the rest of the games.

“He came back and asked why I’d put that together but that’s why I don’t set a points target: my plan is to go out and win every game.”

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