'Poor' display leaves Morecambe boss unimpressed
Morecambe boss Derek Adams was furious with his players after Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Accrington Stanley.
The Shrimps suffered their first defeat in five games on the back of four consecutive draws.
They put in a poor performance against their fellow strugglers, who leapfrogged Morecambe and returned Adams’ players to the foot of the League Two table.
Dara Costelloe’s first-half double, either side of a poor miss from Ben Tollitt, left the Shrimps’ squad playing catch-up at the break.
Although Morecambe enjoyed more possession in the second half, they struggled to make any headway until Tollitt beat keeper Billy Crellin with a free-kick four minutes from time.
Defeat also meant Morecambe ended the game as the only side in the division yet to taste a league victory after 10 games this season.
An honest Adams pulled no punches when summing up his players’ collective efforts.
Speaking afterwards, he said: “We put in our worst performance of the season in that first half. I thought that we were terrible.
“It was exceptionally poor and that was a huge disappointment.
“Coming into a game like this and putting in your worst performance wasn’t good.
“We didn’t play to the levels that we have done this season and I’ve said that to the players.
“We can’t accept the level of today’s performance. It was way below the standards that we have set and I can’t accept that.”
Next up for the Shrimps is Tuesday’s Bristol Street Motors Trophy group stage with Nottingham Forest, followed by Saturday’s trip to Barrow AFC.