Morecambe's incentive for picking up three points at Burton Albion
Derek Adams has reminded his Morecambe players of the incentive for victory at Burton Albion tomorrow.
It’s a battle of the bottom two in League One with the Shrimps at the foot of the table, one point behind their hosts.
Burton had only taken one point from seven games under former boss Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink before he left in early September.
Hasselbaink’s assistant, Dino Maamria, has taken charge and overseen two wins and a draw from the subsequent six matches.
The most recent of those was last Saturday’s point against a Peterborough United team sitting fourth.
“It’s an opportunity to leapfrog the club ahead of us,” Adams said.
“They have got a very, very good squad when you look at the team and some of the signings they have made since Jimmy left.
“Adrian Mariappa, who used to be at Watford, has come in along with Sam Winnall. They have added to their squad and have some pulling power.”
The Burton match begins a busy period for the Shrimps, who have midweek matches for the next four weeks.
With that in mind, Adams is hoping for better news on the injury front given they could only field five substitutes last weekend.
However, tomorrow is the second match in Arthur Gnahoua’s three-game ban for his red card at Accrington Stanley, while Jon Obika won’t have returned after travelling to Nigeria for his father’s funeral.
The news is slightly more promising regarding two of the club’s loanee midfielders.
Adams said: “Jensen Weir had a back spasm, which he picked up last Thursday, and we’ve had to assess him over the last week or so.
“He’s improving and it’s a possibility he might be available for Saturday.
“Caleb Watts (calf strain) is coming along. He’s been out for a while but he’s improving and will hopefully be back in training, so we will see how he is.
“We promoted Adam Mayor from the Academy last weekend because we are just a little bit short at this moment in time.
“There’s not a big issue, that’s the squad we’ve got, and, as an old chairman said to me: ‘You only need 11 players to play on a Saturday.’
“I know there’s a lot of fixtures but we’ve got to get on with it and we’re looking forward to it.”