Robins frustrated after Morecambe defeat
MICHAEL Duff insisted his Cheltenham Town side should have come away with at least a point from promotion rivals Morecambe on Saturday.
Former Cheltenham Town striker Liam Mcalinden netted the only goal as Morecambe completed a win double over the Robins.
Mcalinden struck in the 20th minute, and the result saw Michael Duff’s side slip to second in League Two.
Cheltenham controlled most of the second half, but could not find a breakthrough as Morecambe dug in to secure a point.
Despite having 20 shots in the game, the Robins failed to test Morecambe keeper Kyle Letheren enough, but Duff said his side deserved something from the game.
“We have conceded one shot on target against a good team at home, with a good home record,” he said.
“We had 20 shots in the game and it just wouldn’t go in. We tried different things.
“We had a poor start to the game and the first 15 minutes wasn’t good enough, but after that I thought we were the better team.
“We got them in at half-time, tweaked a couple of things, and it was much better. Second half, we created enough chances to win a game, but credit to them – they made it difficult, made good blocks and threw themselves at everything.
“They were hard, compact and managed the game well at the end, which is frustrating, but good play from them.
“You create that many chances away from home, you’ll win more than you lose, 100 per cent.
“There are always things you can improve on, but I am not sure we’ve come away from home and had 20 shots.
“We have to be more clinical and we can’t always rely on keeping a clean sheet.
“We’ve had a chat as a staff and in the last three games we’ve conceded two shots on target and lost two games – conceding three goals, bizarrely, as one of them was an own goal.
“You do that often enough, you’ll win more than you lose. I say to the players all the time, you worry about your per- formances and I’ll worry about the result.
“The performance was good enough to get a better result today.
“If you have 20 shots in the next nine games there is a good chance you are going to win more than you lose.”
Cheltenham’s next game is at home to third-placed Tranmere on Friday in front of the Sky cameras.
Duff will check on a couple of injuries before that game, with Matty Blair going off early in the second half, while Lewis Freestone appeared to suffer an injury late in the game before being replaced.
“Blairy (Matty Blair) came off with his ankle and he couldn’t continue,” said Duff.
“He tried to give it another go after half-time, but he knew straight away.
“Lewis Freestone was a strange one because we thought he’d pulled his groin and then he said he was all right, but where we are bodies wise, we don’t want to be losing anyone for a long period of time.
“Ellis (Chapman) came on and we were chasing the game, so you want a ball-playing centre-half. That’s what he is because he came on and made a couple of good passes.
“I am not sure exactly when Matty felt his injury, but we were told at halftime he was struggling.
“He was prepared to give it a go, but it was a no pretty soon after.
“It’s come up a little bit, but hopefully with no midweek game – well, until Friday – he has the best part of a week to
get him back because he’s been excellent for us. Same with Lewis, and hopefully it’s just a tightness with a lot of games in a short space of time.”
Matchwinner Mcalinden was only making his second start for Morecambe and scored his first goal for the club after having an unhappy spell at Cheltenham in 2018-19.
“He took his chance well,” said Duff. “They had one shot on target.
“I am not sure what’s happened with the goal, but they said it was Toze (Ben Tozer) who has played him through.
“The league’s been tight all season. Slipped down to second. I take that as a positive. I don’t take the result as a positive. We have to stick together.
“We are in a good place. We’ve just lost a game I don’t think we’ve deserved to lose.
“I said in the week, it’s going to get emotional and people will be up here and down there, but offer me nine performances like that in the next nine games and I’ll take that and see where it takes us.”
Looking ahead to the Tranmere game, Duff said: “These are the games you want to play in and the games you want to remember when you retire.
“You don’t want to remember a 17th versus 19th in February when it’s freezing cold, 0-0 or whatever.
“These are the games and Friday will be another one.
“It’s not very often players at this level get to play on Sky, particularly for Cheltenham, as they normally go for the bigger-type clubs.
“So it’s a chance to hopefully impress and get three points, as that’s all it is.” Morecambe: Letheren, Mellor, Lavelle, Davis (Hendrie 68), Gibson, Diagouraga, O’sullivan (Pringle 90), Wildig, Mendes Gomes, Mcalinden (Cooney 66),Stockton. Subs not used: Halstead, Denny, Price.
Cheltenham: Flinders, Long, Tozer, Freestone (Vassilev 83), Blair (Azaz 50), Sercombe, Thomas, Wright (Williams 78), Hussey, Smith, May (Chapman 83). Subs not used: Addai, Harris, Horton.