Striker’s early exit infuriates the Morecambe manager

The striker, playing his first game since the end of September after coming back from a hamstring injury, saw red for a coming together with Ellis Iandolo deep in first-half injury time.

It was a decision that infuriated the Morecambe boss, who saw his 10 men defend valiantly in the second half before conceding the winner via a deflected Mandela Egbo shot.

Adams said: “We’ve looked at the footage and it’s not a sending off.

“It’s a player going for the ball and the referee has chosen to send him off. It wasn’t the linesman, it was the referee.

“It will be interesting to see what the referee gives it for. It’s him that’s given it. That’s the interesting point.

“We’ve seen it back on the video and there is nothing there to suggest there is a sending off in it.

“It’s been a really difficult week for us. We didn’t need the sending off in the first half because we were in the game.

“We had better opportunities than Colchester in the second half and they got very fortunate with the goal they got

“Sam Purkiss was the referee here the last time that we both met and he sent off James Connolly in the first half as well.”

Defeat capped a tough week for the Shrimps, whose financial issues made headlines again.

When asked if they would appeal the card, Adams said: “Well it costs £500 to appeal a decision and I don’t know if we have that money available to do it.”