Shrimps' boss seeks improvements at both ends of the pitch

The Shrimps’ manager says their lack of midweek fixtures over the next few weeks will give him more valuable time on the training pitch, starting with preparations for Saturday’s trip to Braintree Town.

Midweek matches have been a constant in the first three months of the season as Morecambe played catch-up on their National League counterparts after the club’s delayed start to the season.

Last Tuesday’s win against Brackley Town was the Shrimps’ seventh midweek match in league or cup since September 24.

With no scheduled midweek game until the year-ending trip to Carlisle United on December 30, Johal is looking to capitalise upon that time at the training ground.

Speaking after last Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Yeovil Town at the Mazuma Mobile Stadium, he said: “In the past few weeks we have restricted the opposition to very few chances, which has been good, and that is something we are looking to build on further.

“We now have a few weeks where we can just concentrate on training and that is fantastic.

“It means we can put in a lot of work in terms of being even tighter at the back but, at the same time, how we can produce more pressure higher up the pitch because on Saturday we were a little bit deeper than I would have liked.

“The lads have been great since I have been here and have always been hungry to learn, adapt and take in all the information we give them.

“We now have three good training weeks and we will see improvements defensively and offensively because we need to be better and start creating the kind of chances we were doing.

“What we are finding now as the season is progressing is that teams are defending a lot deeper against us.

“At the beginning of the season we were a little bit of an unknown entity and teams were pressing really high against us and leaving space behind.

“Now they know the damage we can do and every team, apart from York, has dropped deep and we now need to find solutions to break those teams down.”