Next Up: Morecambe Away

Once again City hit the road hoping to bolster their poor home form with another inspiredperformance away from the Park. Paul Tisdale has another injury to contend with, Matt Oakley joining Liam Sercombe and John O’Flynn on the sidelines. Oakley’s absence may hand a start to Tom Doherty as probably the best like-for-like fit, while Jimmy Keohane and Jake Gosling could be pushing for starts if Tisdale decides to bolster his midfield at the possible expense of Guillem Bauza.

Morecambe have had something of a topsy-turvy season, and go into Saturday’s fixture on the back of two successive away wins (including a 4-1 thumping of York), which ended a run of one win in their previous nine. Jim Bentley’s side are currently sitting in 12th in what is a congested League Two table, knowing that a win could thrust them into the playoff picture and a defeat having them looking over their shoulders. The player to watch will be the burly Kevin Ellison, who is topping the goalscoring charts with 11 goals, one ahead of Jack Redshaw. Ellison will have to be watched also for his ability to wind up opponents, so the likes of Doherty will need to keep their cool!

This will be City’s first trip to the Globe Arena, a ground that opened during City’s stay in League One. City were unbeaten at the previous ground, Christie Park, and will hope to maintain that unbeaten record in seeking revenge for the debacle of the 0-3 reverse at the Park on the opening day of the season. City’s only other defeat to the Shrimps was one that needs little fanfare – the small matter of the Conference playoff final at Wembley in 2007. Overall City’s record against Morecambe is W4 D6 L2, and the last visit to Morecambe in November 2008 saw a 1-1 draw. Rene Howe (now at Torquay) put Morecambe ahead, and despite being reduced to 10 men with Bertie Cozic harshly sent off, City equalised through a belter from Manny Panther.

Match Officials: http://www.exeweb.com/2013/02/05/match-officials-morecambe-away/

Exeweb Guide to Globe Arena: the-things-you-need-to-know-globe-arena-morecambe