Morecambe boss doesn't want further defensive disappointment

After a run of one defeat in eight had left the Shrimps outside the League Two play-off places on goal difference, they conceded eight times in back-to-back defeats against Wrexham AFC and Newport County AFC.

The latter loss saw Brannan’s players concede five times and left the Morecambe boss livid with the manner of the goals.

He said: “I thought, at times, we were breathtaking going forward and missed a lot of chances – but we can’t defend crosses like that, we just can’t.

“The lads all know, I’m not blaming anyone individually. As a team, we can’t leave men free in the box – it kills us.

“We can’t come away from home, create eight or nine chances and get beaten 5-3, we just can’t.

“We started the game really well, we had two really good chances and then they had one break.

“We talked about stopping crosses and they got a tap-in, it can’t happen.

“If we want to get in the play-offs, we’ve got to shore up at the back – we’ve got to, we can’t do that.

“We had the better chances but you can’t concede goals like that; you can’t score three goals away from home and get beaten 5-3 – it just can’t happen.

“I thought we were a really big threat going forward but, again, we missed chance after chance.

“We said before the game we need six wins out of 10 (to reach the play-offs), so now we need six out of nine.”

One of Morecambe’s absentees in midweek was Jacob Davenport, who has missed out on February’s goal of the month award for League Two.

The midfielder was on a four-player shortlist for his stunning stoppage-time strike which gave the Shrimps a 3-2 victory at Tranmere Rovers in mid-February.

Instead, the award was won by former Morecambe striker Cole Stockton for his long-distance lob in Barrow AFC’s meeting with Forest Green Rovers.

Also shortlisted was another ex-Shrimp, Dan Crowley, and Doncaster Rovers’ Luke Molyneux.