Morecambe striker earns the praise of his manager and team-mate

The striker netted his 11th goal of the campaign in the Shrimps’ 4-1 win over Scunthorpe United on Tuesday.

As the focal point of the Morecambe attack, Stockton’s aerial strength and ability to hold up the ball before finding his colleagues is crucial to their way of playing.

While the 27-year-old has missed opportunities during the season, he is averaging a goal every other game since the start of March.

“He might not be high up in the assists charts but I bet he’s involved in the build-up for a lot of goals,” Adams said of his striker.

“He scored a magnificent goal on Tuesday with a shot into the top corner, but just as pleasing for me was a lot of players were involved in the build-up.

“It started at our right-back position. (Aaron) Wildig, O’Sullivan and Toums (Toumani Diagouraga) all pressed the ball and we got possession.”

That pressing ended with a one-two between Stockton and O’Sullivan and the former finding the top corner from 20 yards.

As O’Sullivan admitted, the striker’s goals are a reward for some often overlooked contributions during the course of the campaign.

He said: “I said to Cole at half-time that he always scores the hard ones, if he scored the easy ones he would be on 15 or 20.

“He does a massive shift up front. It’s tough for him at times but I say to him every week I’ll try and get him a goal.

“He’s been excellent for us this season.”

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