Morecambe players prepare for MK Dons test

Four points against Charlton Athletic and Portsmouth over the Easter break have seen the Shrimps climb to 19th in the table, two places and three points clear of the bottom four.

It could be a decisive day tomorrow with second-bottom Doncaster Rovers seemingly set for relegation.

Third-bottom AFC Wimbledon would also drop down to League Two for next season if they lose at fourth-bottom Fleetwood Town.

Gillingham, who sit just outside the relegation places in 20th position – two points behind the Shrimps – travel to Portsmouth.

Adams said: “I’ve said before we have a difficult run-in and we’ve still got that with MK Dons and Sunderland to come.

“To take the points we have has enabled us to get into a much better position than we were a week ago.

“However, we have to play MK who are third in the league and then we’ve got Sunderland who are seventh.

“They are both playing for the same thing ultimately. MK went to get into the automatic promotion places and Sunderland the play-offs, so these two games coming up are really big games.”

Tomorrow is only Morecambe’s third visit to MK Dons, having drawn there in 2008 and lost a decade later.

They face a team who were overlooked by most of the tipsters at the start of the season, but are only out of the top two on goal difference.

The Shrimps also have first-hand knowledge of their capabilities, having been beaten 4-0 when the sides met at the end of November.

Adams said: “They are a football club that has been through the leagues and been up in the Championship.

“They want to get back there but they have had an excellent season.

“They have got a number of really talented players in their squad who have shown their abilities this season.

“They have performed really well to get themselves in a situation where they are third on goal difference with a couple of games to go.”

Ryan McLaughlin is the only confirmed absentee for Morecambe, though Freddie Price has been able to return to training after picking up a freak head injury in training pre-Christmas.