Shaun Beeley relishing responsibility of leading Morecambe

Shaun Beeley is relishing leading out Morecambe in the absence of injured captain Peter Murphy.
Shaun Beeley leads out Morecambe against Accrington.Shaun Beeley leads out Morecambe against Accrington.
Shaun Beeley leads out Morecambe against Accrington.

Last year’s player of the year has taken the armband after Murphy suffered a serious knee injury just eight minutes into his competitive Shrimps debut at Hartlepool on the opening day.

It meant that vice-captain Beeley immediately had to step up and he is enjoying being in charge on the field with the help of some other senior players.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The right back said: “I like taking the lads out and hopefully leading them on the field.

“But we’ve got a lot of good leaders out there with Kev (Ellison), Ryan Edwards and Paz (Andy Parrish).

“I’m just doing Peter’s job until he’s back but I’m enjoying it.”

Beeley next leads the side at Portsmouth on Saturday knowing that The Shrimps will be huge underdogs against the League 2’s biggest club in front of a crowd of more than 15,000.

The former Fleetwood man said: “They’re the favourites.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“He’s (new manager Paul Cook) took some good players there and they are looking strong but at the end of the day it’s just a game of football and if we can do down there and do a job on them who knows what can happen.

“It’s a fortress for them because of the backing they have from the fans but you’ve just got to enjoy the occasion.”

Fratton Park is not a happy hunting ground for The Shrimps though who have lost both their previous visits 3-0 despite their habit of performing well against League 2’s big guns.

Beeley said: “Maybe this season’s a change.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“We’ve beaten Accy (Stanley) and haven’t done that in years.

“If we play as we know we can do hopefully it will a tight game and we can nick three points.”

Morecambe have however come out on the wrong end of tight games with Hartlepool, Sheffield United and Wycombe Wanderers so far with the stand-in skipper knowing they need to turn chances into goals having scored just once so far this season.

Beeley said: “I thought we were the better side on Tuesday (against Wycombe) and have been the better side in most of the games.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“It’s just that final ball or putting it in the back of the net which will pay dividends in the games.

“Once that starts coming I’m sure we won’t have any problems because we are creating the chances we need to.”