Morecambe manager wants to see further improvement despite Shrewsbury Town success

The Shrimps’ first home League One match couldn’t have gone more perfectly as they claimed a fully deserved three points.

Two goals in 11 first-half minutes did the damage, Adam Phillips netting the opener from the spot on 34 minutes after he had been brought down by Nathaniel Ogbeta.

Eleven minutes later, Cole Stockton netted his fourth goal in a week by scoring after the Shrews’ defence failed to deal with Phillips’ corner.

Robinson said: “First half, we went in 2-0 without playing fairly well to be honest.

“I don’t think we passed the ball well enough but I thought our second-half performance was excellent.

“The game should have been put to bed, some of the football played at times was excellent and showed the direction we’re trying to go in.”

Morecambe’s performance was highlighted by a number of excellent displays from their squad.

Ryan Cooney went away with the sponsors’ man-of-the-match award, though players including Stockton, Toumani Diagouraga, Josh McPake, Arthur Gnahoua and Shane McLoughlin also impressed.

Stockton’s performances are a bonus for Robinson, given injuries to Jonah Ayunga and Jon Obika have limited the manager’s ability to rotate up front.

Obika faces four months out with his hamstring problem, while Ayunga is missing for between six and eight weeks with an impact injury collected at Blackburn Rovers.

Robinson said: “I thought Cole Stockton was excellent again today but there were a lot of really good performances.

“He’s vital to us at this moment in time, we have real injury concerns in that area of the pitch.

“The lads defended when they needed to defend but I think they can do better, I don’t think we’ve put a 90-minute performance together.”

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