Morecambe boss: Tottenham Hotspur FA Cup tie is a chance for players to attract attention

Stephen Robinson has challenged his Morecambe squad to produce a performance at Tottenham Hotspur which makes people sit up and take notice.
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The Shrimps head to Tottenham on Sunday for a third high-profile date in the capital inside the last 12 months, following last year’s trip to Chelsea and the Wembley play-off final.

Their first season in League One has seen much of the attention focus on Cole Stockton with Morecambe’s top scorer having netted 18 times in 27 appearances.

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That goal return has triggered the inevitable speculation he will emulate Carlos Mendes Gomes and Sam Lavelle in being sold at some point during the January transfer window.

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Robinson said: “Bear in mind I’m not trying to sell him! Cole has been fantastic for us and his quality of goals has been the biggest thing.

“For every player, it’s a shop window. Morecambe are a club that sells players and have to be sustainable in selling players.

“It’s an opportunity to put yourself on the map.”

Cole Stockton has found himself linked with moves away from MorecambeCole Stockton has found himself linked with moves away from Morecambe
Cole Stockton has found himself linked with moves away from Morecambe

The trip to Tottenham has raised the question from outsiders as to how Morecambe’s players will handle the occasion.

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It would be easy to think they could be rabbits caught in the headlights but the squad contains six survivors from the game at Chelsea, as well as another half-dozen who featured at Wembley.

The game also sees Morecambe experience another match using the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system.

It’s the second season in a row the Shrimps will encounter it, following on from last year’s match at Stamford Bridge.

It has had a mixed reception since being introduced and Robinson believes it can be improved further.

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He said: “In Scotland, I complained all the time we didn’t have VAR.

“I said a top league in a country should have VAR. Now I’ve seen it in practice in the big competitions, I’m not sure.

“It needs refining a little bit. It does take the spontaneity out of it, whether you can celebrate a goal or not.

“I think it needs to be tweaked a little bit.”

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