John Doolan has said that he is “the right man” ahead of Accrington Stanley‘s bottom-of-the-table battle this weekend.
23rd-placed Morecambe head to bottom side Stanley as the only two teams in League Two yet to record a victory this season. Both came close to breaking their ducks in their previous games, with Derek Adams perhaps unlucky to best former side Bradford City at home, whilst Accrington surrendered their lead to lose to Cheltenham Town.
The Shrimps are the more in-form side ahead of the clash, having drawn their last four games. The ‘Owd Reds have picked up two of their three total points in their previous five and have won most recently in league play having beaten Tranmere Rovers on the final day of last season.
Speaking to club media ahead of the match, Doolan reflected on the performance against Cheltenham. “We just need to win a game, it’s as simple as that.
“It is worrying, and it is concerning in terms of not holding onto leads or seeing it over the line. We are conceding goals, that’s what is wrong.
“In terms of going forward, we haven’t got a problem scoring goals, but there is a nervousness, a naivety, silly mistakes, unlucky, balls coming off lads, and falling to a player unmarked in a box, whatever it is.
“There’s all sorts of factors of why you can’t keep the ball out of the back of the net.
Both sides are yet to keep a clean sheet this season, but it is Stanley who lead the way in terms of goals conceded. They sit in second in League Two by that stat, behind 22nd-placed Carlisle United by one goal.
Doolan took charge of the club following the sacking of long-time manager John Coleman last March, initially on an interim basis but was given the full role the following month. Whilst he has only won three times in his 21 matches in charge at The Wham Stadium, the former Wigan Athletic defender believed he was the one to lead the club forward.
He added: “It hurts all of us. Me and Ged are passionate about what we do. We have sleepless nights, we love this club, we care about this club, we want to do it for the owner, the Board, the fans, and the people who work at the club.
“We put the trust in the players we have brought to the club and we give them a plan, put them on the pitch, and we want to see the results. Hopefully them results will start coming, beginning tomorrow.
“I am convinced we will get the points to stay up. We know we have to get 40-50 plus points. We know what the job is, we know it’s a tough task, but we are up for the fight, we have got a togetherness, and we know what we have to do is win a game of football, and then take it to the next step.
“I am the right man the job, if I didn’t believe that I wouldn’t be here. That’s out of my hands where it goes next, but I am fighting big time and the players are fighting big time, and it’s just things happening on the pitch.
“I have loads of people texting me telling me we are not far away, we just need to get the win and it will snowball, and hopefully that comes tomorrow.”
Writer’s View
This is a pivotal game for both sides and it feels if one of them loses then they will be in serious trouble. Based on the form Morecambe do look to be favourites and have finally begun to show potential under Derek Adams and were unlucky not to win on Tuesday night and against Notts County in the previous game. They should feel confident going into this but Accrington Stanley will have the same desire to end their poor run which should add extra fuel to the fire of this Lancashire derby.
John Doolan speaking out about his confidence in being the right man does seem like the pressure is now mounting on the boss. Whilst he has the right to back himself going forward to lead the team to safety, the stats do make for grim reading with a 14% win percentage and an average of 0.7 points per game. He needs to begin delivering results soon and this will be the best opportunity he gets to turn the ship around in a must-win game. The news that Jake Batty is fit to feature will be music to his ears, as the Blackburn Rovers loanee has been one of Accrington’s standout players.
