Morecambe manager's vote of confidence in his players

The Shrimps head to Notts County for their final game of 2023, on the back of Boxing Day’s 2-2 draw at Bradford City.

James Connolly and JJ McKiernan gave Morecambe a two-goal lead at half-time, after which Clarke Oduor and Brad Halliday levelled for the hosts.

The point left Morecambe 13th in League Two as they face a County team which ended a run of four straight defeats with victory over Doncaster Rovers in midweek.

Brannan said of Boxing Day’s point: “I thought the way we were playing first half, it could have been four or five no problem at all – but I just love the way we’re improving all the time.

“I’d say that’s our best performance since I’ve been at the club, first half, and the way we dug in second half was good as well.

“You see the way we passed the ball first half, we absolutely cut them to bits, breaking the lines all the time with the passes.

“The pace of (Jordan) Slew, Adam (Mayor) and Blocko (Tom Bloxham) was brilliant, they didn’t know how to cope with us to be honest.”

Tonight’s game sees the Shrimps looking to make it four unbeaten on the road in all competitions against a County side with whom they drew 0-0 at the Mazuma Mobile Stadium in mid-August.

That was a rare blank for tonight’s hosts, who are League Two’s second highest scorers this season.

Macaulay Langstaff has 16 goals across all competitions so far, while David McGoldrick and former Morecambe midfielder Dan Crowley have both netted 10.

Brannan added: “Again, that’s another massive club with a big budget compared to us but we’ll go there, give it our best shot and hopefully surprise a few people.

“Notts County will pass the ball really quickly and they play similar to us, so it will be a counter-attacking game I think.

“Both are entertaining teams and score a lot of goals but obviously we’ve got to go there with our game plan and, hopefully, we’ll catch them when they’re half-asleep!”