Morecambe boss Stephen Robinson takes encouragement from pre-season friendly draw against Blackpool

The Shrimps and the Seasiders played out a 1-1 draw at the Mazuma Stadium on Saturday.

Wes McDonald gave Morecambe a half-time lead, after which CJ Hamilton restored parity for the visitors.

Aaron Wildig and Adam Phillips also came close as Robinson’s players acquitted themselves well against a Blackpool side which returns to the Championship next weekend.

“I thought it went well,” the Morecambe manager said afterwards.

“Defensively we were very good, we set up well and when you get on the ball, you have to be brave - and you saw the lads grow into that.

“We played well on the counter and we have some exciting players. I thought we looked organised against a very good Blackpool team.”

Morecambe’s desire to play a more passing style of football was evident from the first minute.

It paid off when a fine move ended with Arthur Gnahoua getting behind the Blackpool defence before crossing for McDonald to score.

Another excellent bit of team play ended with Jonah Ayunga firing over as Morecambe showed some positive signs going forward.

A 4-3-3 attacking line-up with the ball became 4-5-1 without it as the Shrimps looked defensively sound before hitting on the counter.

Robinson said: “It’s not often everything you work on in training comes off.

“Defensive shape is something the forward players have to buy into and they did, so I think there’s more to come.

“We made a few changes and it went a bit scrappy for 10 minutes but, at the end of the game, we had three or four really good chances against a very good side who play very good football. I think we came out on a positive note.”

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