Morecambe boss wonders if Oxford United may perform a system reboot

The match at the Mazuma Stadium will be Oxford’s first under new boss Liam Manning, who was named as Karl Robinson’s successor last weekend.

They are on a run of nine defeats in 10 matches, during which they parted company with Robinson after almost five years in charge.

He was replaced by Manning, whose 18-month reign with MK Dons ended last December.

Manning enjoyed a perfect record against the Shrimps in four league and cup games with the Dons, winning 4-0 in both trips to the Mazuma Stadium and 2-0 in their matches at Stadium MK.

Given Manning has only had a few days to prepare for tomorrow’s match, Adams is pondering how the managerial change may affect Oxford’s approach.

He said: “It’s another game with a new manager coming in and is he going to change the style they had been playing?

“We will have to wait and see but they are only three points ahead of us.

“Liam has been renowned for playing out from the back, passing from the six-yard box.

“He played three at the back, had a box in midfield, two wing-backs and a striker; that was the philosophy he had at MK Dons and was very successful at it in taking them to the play-offs last season.

“At our level, when it comes to bringing in players to play the philosophy you want, some clubs can do that whereas others have to go and fit players into a system.”

Both teams are desperate for three points tomorrow with Oxford 19th and Morecambe having dropped to third-bottom after their defeats against Shrewsbury Town and Charlton Athletic.

However, results elsewhere keep going their way as they remain only two points from safety with nine games left.

“It’s about us putting pressure on the other teams and we have to win games to do that,” Adams said.

“They (Oxford) have changed formation a number of times like ourselves, we’ve played a variety of systems throughout the season.

“We haven’t been stubborn in how we go about things; we’ve looked at the opposition, what their strengths and weaknesses are.

“We’ve tried to get the better of them but, at times, the opposition have just been too good.”