After over a 10-year absence from England’s third tier, Morecambe made their return last season and managed to retain their status for the 2022-2023 campaign, finishing 19th and narrowly avoiding an immediate return to League Two.
As was the case in the previous year, Derek Adams’s men look set for another fight for survival as they try to offset the effects of the dreaded second-season syndrome, with Morecambe currently 23rd in the league standings having only collected 12 points from their opening 16 matches.
Being the league’s lowest scorers, Morecambe have unsurprisingly found it difficult to take games away from their opponents and only have two victories to their name so far this term, fewer than any other team in the division.
The home faithful at the Mazuma Stadium have had little to celebrate since the beginning of the campaign, with their side managing just four goals in their opening seven home matches – no other team has scored fewer on home soil this season.
Derby County are finding out that escaping England’s third tier at the first attempt is not as easy as many fallen Championship clubs anticipate, with the Rams currently 13 points off the automatic-promotion pace, albeit with two games in hand over Ipswich Town who currently sit second.
A comfortable 4-2 win against Bristol Rovers on Saturday is the type of result Derby fans assumed would be a regular occurence in the East Midlands but instead Paul Warne’s side have only won seven of their 15 league matches, leaving them with work to do if they want to avoid a second season at this level.
There is a distinct Championship feel to the Derby side despite being unable to bulldoze through League One, with established second-tier players such as David McGoldrick and Conorq Hourihanebeing tasked with helping the club achieve promotion after a troubled few years on and off the field.
Derby’s away form is a major reason why Warne’s side have not been able to keep up with the pace-setters at the top of the division so far, with the Rams collecting just eight points from seven League One ventures, a record that does not align with the club’s ambitions of an immediate return to the Championship.
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Morecambe will have to make do without the services of midfielder Donald Love, who picked up his fifth booking of the season against Wycombe and will therefore serve a one-match suspension when Derby come to town on Tuesday.
The unavailability of Love could see Jensen Weir drop further back in the midfield to allow Mayor a place in the XI after getting the equaliser off the bench against Wycombe on the weekend.
Derby are likely to field a similar XI to the one that beat Bristol Rovers convincingly at Pride Park on Saturday, with hat-trick hero McGoldrick looking to add to his six goal contributions so far this campaign.
Ireland international Hourihane will sit this game out after collecting a fifth yellow of the season, with youngster Louie Sibleythe number one candidate to replace the 31-year-old in the middle of the pitch for the Rams.
