Morecambe's squad strength can be crucial

The Shrimps stayed in the bottom two with 15 matches of the League Two season still to play, despite last Saturday’s 2-0 win over Accrington Stanley at the Mazuma Mobile Stadium.

However, they are only two points behind third-bottom Tranmere Rovers ahead of back-to-back home matches this week.

Adams feels his squad has a totally different look now than it had during the first half of the season, with more options available to him and a greater chance to make an impact with substitutions than was previously the case.

There was no place in the squad last weekend for players including Tom White and Jordan Slew, such was the strength of numbers in the Shrimps’ camp.

However, Adams says he will need every player between now and the end of the season as the Shrimps entertain Doncaster Rovers this evening (7.45pm).

Speaking after Saturday’s win, the Morecambe boss said: “We are going to need all our players before the end of the season, I know that.

“For the Accrington game we had players like Tom White, Hallam Hope and Jordan Slew not even in the 18.

“We had players on the bench who will always be pushing those that are in the team and that is exactly what we need.

“Ben Tollitt is our top scorer and didn’t come on on Saturday – that shows the strength we have and that is exactly what we want and need.

“We want competition for places and the group pushing each other on like we have at the moment.

“We’ve been unfortunate this season not to have more points than we have, we know that, but the win on Saturday has given us an opportunity.

“We have closed the gap between ourselves and Accrington and Tranmere and opened up the gap with Carlisle.

“That is something we need to build on over the next few weeks.”

Should Adams’ players beat the drop, they already know when next season will get underway.

The EFL has confirmed that Leagues One and Two will kick off on the weekend of August 2-3, with the Championship starting a week later.