Next Up: Morecambe at Home

With City having lost to virtually the last kick of the game at Bristol Rovers, the sad truth is that Paul Tisdale’s side is now closer in terms of points to the relegation zone than the playoffs, and therefore an upturn in form is needed PDQ, starting with the visit of Morecambe on Saturday. Danny Coles made an earlier than expected return to the starting XI last weekend and will hope to have kept his place although with Matt Gill also having returned earlier than expected to make the bench last time out he will hope to be fit enough to start against the Shrimps, which may necessitate a shuffling of the pack involving Scot Bennett, which in turn could lead to Coles, Butterfield or Baldwin dropping to the bench. Tom Nichols will hope to continue up front alongside Alan Gow.

Morecambe, under the astute management of hardman Jim Bentley, have once again confounded the pundits who predicted a season of struggle especially after a lengthy injury to a key player in pre-season, and Bentley’s side currently sit in 9th place albeit having played more games than anyone else.

They are, however, struggling somewhat for form currently, without a win in their last four matches. Like City they tend to go behind in matches, and have the best record in the Football League of points gained from losing positions – their last two matches have both ended 1-1 with their opposition having taken the lead, while back in October they turned a 3-0  deficit against high-flying Chesterfield into a 4-3 win. Jack Redshaw overcame his injury a couple of months earlier than anticipated although has struggled to replicate his 16-goal form of last season so far, notching just twice. The colourful character Kevin Ellison continues to stir things up and he has seven goals to his name to be joint top scorer with ex-Accrington striker Padraig Amond.

Back in August Morecambe recorded their first ever home victory over the Grecians, a second half double from Ellison securing a 2-0 win. City were shocked in this fixture last season on the opening day, what looked a relatively comfortable start to life back in League Two unwound horribly with a 3-0 thumping (two from Andy Fleming and one from Izak Reid). City hold the overall head-to-head lead with five wins to Morecambe’s three (six draws). What price a first home win since October?

Match Officials: http://www.exeweb.com/2014/01/14/match-officials-morecambe-at-home/