Morecambe must be better with the ball

The Shrimps were beaten 3-1 by MK Dons at the Mazuma Mobile Stadium last weekend, a defeat which saw them return to the foot of the League Two table.

Having trailed 2-0 inside the opening quarter following goals from Joe Tomlinson and Scott Hogan, Morecambe had pulled one back through Jamie Stott with half-time approaching.

However, Liam Kelly’s early second-half effort gave the Dons victory and left Morecambe with three points from 18 at home this season.

Adams’ squad had gone into the game hoping to make it three wins in a row across all competitions.

Victory against Nottingham Forest’s U21s in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy had been followed by a first league success with three points at Barrow AFC.

Tonight sees them visit an AFC Wimbledon team beaten at Notts County last weekend before Chesterfield are their visitors on Saturday lunchtime.

Ahead of those games, Adams has warned his team that they must do better when they have the ball.

He said: “What you could see on Saturday, once again, was that we have a squad of players who are working extremely hard and understand just how difficult it is for us this season.

“What you could also see is that we have to be better when we have the ball.

"We haven’t been good enough in that area and, on Saturday, when we regained possession, we gave it away too cheaply.

“Teams like MK Dons will get the ball, keep it and make you work really hard to get it back.

“That’s what we have to be aiming for as we move forward and learn from games like Saturday.”

While Morecambe are still to win a league game at home this season, tonight’s hosts haven’t had any such issues.

They have won four from four in League Two as they play catch-up following last month’s flood damage to their pitch.

Nevertheless, Morecambe do have a decent away record against AFC Wimbledon with only two defeats in their previous seven trips.