Morecambe boss won't give up on automatic promotion hope just yet

Derek Adams says an automatic promotion place still isn’t out of Morecambe’s reach as they go into the final two games of the season.
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The Shrimps could have climbed into League Two’s top three with victory against Bolton Wanderers at the Mazuma Stadium last Saturday.

Instead, Ben Jackson’s goal saw the visitors depart with a 1-0 win which kept them in the final automatic promotion spot instead.

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Adams’ players are now four points adrift of Bolton and a further point behind second-placed Cambridge United going into Saturday’s trip to Walsall.

Morecambe lost to Bolton Wanderers on SaturdayMorecambe lost to Bolton Wanderers on Saturday
Morecambe lost to Bolton Wanderers on Saturday
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On paper then, it appears a play-off berth may be as good as it gets for the Shrimps but Adams isn’t resigned to that outcome just yet.

He said: “We have two games to go and we still have the opportunity to finish in the automatic promotion places.

“We have two tough games against Walsall and Bradford City, so we have to win the two games to have that possibility.

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“We know the teams around us have difficult games, you only have to see by the results on Saturday how difficult it (League Two) is.”

The play-off picture will become clearer this evening with a number of clubs playing their final game in hand.

Should results go in their favour tonight, then the Shrimps will be assured of a play-off spot ahead of the weekend’s return to action.

Irrespective of what happens though, Morecambe still go into Saturday’s game looking to bounce back from a disappointing defeat to Bolton.

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Jackson’s goal deep into first-half added time was enough to give them victory against a Morecambe side that played three-quarters of the game with 10 men following Kelvin Mellor’s red card.

Despite that numerical disadvantage, Adams was pleased with how his team performed.

He said: “I thought, over the 90 minutes, we were the better side.

“Taking nothing away from Bolton, they obviously got the win, enabled by the sending off, but over the 90 minutes, the character from the players was very good.

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“We’re obviously disappointed because we felt today was a great opportunity to go above Bolton and we could have done that.”

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