Morecambe look to bounce back from FA Cup humiliation this weekend.

Morecambe boss Adam Lakeland admitted he has a lot to think about this week as his players look to come back from their crushing FA Cup defeat at AFC Rushden and Diamonds, writes DEREK QUINN.

The Shrimps, as Lakeland had predicted in the build-up, ended up with all the wrong headlines after losing 2-1 against the part-time, eighth-tier side at Hayden Road.

James Clifton and Matt Warburton had left Morecambe with a two-goal deficit at half-time, after which Joe Garner pulled one back.

That was as good as it got for Lakeland’s players, whose difficulties on the road this season continued with a fifth defeat in seven matches away from the Halo Aerospace Stadium.

His frustration was clear to see after Saturday’s defeat, when he apologised to fans for the performance and said: “I am incredibly frustrated. I am saying the same things and getting the same outcomes, so maybe I am the problem.

“It was the same as Worksop, where we gave away two goals in three or four minutes, and I am fed up of watching us away from home conceding one goal and then capitulating.

"They say it is a sign of madness that if you keep doing the same things, you get the same outcomes, so something has to change.

“My teams are always the best prepped going into any away game.

“The level of preparation they go through is way above National League North level, so they are either not capable of doing what we want them to do or I am the problem.

“Something has to give or we will continue to struggle to get results away from home.”

Having also lost at Worksop Town a week-and-a-half ago, the Shrimps are back on the road again this weekend when they visit Merthyr Town in National League North.

Their hosts had exited the FA Cup with defeat against Truro City in the second qualifying round last month.

That meant they were in league action last weekend, when they climbed above the Shrimps into 15th position with a 1-1 draw against King’s Lynn Town.

A sixth draw in 12 league matches so far, it moved them a point above Morecambe who are 19th - but only four points behind Hednesford Town in seventh.