Derek Adams will call on Morecambe to invoke the spirit of Ross County’s 2010 giant killing at Celtic in Sunday’s FA Cup trip to Chelsea.
Shrimps boss Adams steered Ross County into the 2010 Scottish Cup final, shocking Celtic 2-0 at Hampden Park in a major last-four upset.
The 45-year-old admitted he will use his past cup triumphs to inspire his players for the weekend’s third-round clash at Stamford Bridge.
“I think experiences like that are very helpful: going into the game you understand the game that’s in front of you, you understand the opposition,” Adams told the PA news agency.
“The experiences I’ve had in the past, you always draw on, because you go back and you think how did you deal with this situation, and there’s no doubt that I’ll do that for this game.
“So we’ll speak about that collectively.
“In the past I’ve had to go to Hampden and play against Celtic when I was in the first division with Ross County: we beat them 2-0 on the day in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup to reach the final.
“And we went to Anfield with Plymouth Argyle and drew 0-0 with Jurgen Klopp’s team too.
“So what we do is we try and have it as relaxed as possible, I think that’s important.
“They’ll all be really excited to go to Stamford Bridge and play.
“So on the day they have to stick to the gameplan, and then they will obviously get opportunities in the game.
“It’s when those opportunities come along, it’s how clinical can they be in front of goal.
“You’ve got to understand the opposition. They are talented, they have spent a great deal of money in taking in the players they have.
“But our players have to appreciate the skill that they do have.
“On the day, you always cause the opposition a problem, they will certainly cause us a problem.
“But it’s when we cause them the problems on the day, how good are we at getting into these situations.”
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Morecambe have a fully fit squad which comes as a major boost, off the back of the club’s 10-day self-isolation period following a Covid-19 outbreak.
The Shrimps underwent full squad coronavirus testing on Thursday and remain hopeful of fulfilling Sunday’s fixture as planned.
Boss Adams knows Chelsea will rotate their resources given the hectic schedule – but refuses to expect weakened opposition, with the likes of World Cup winner Olivier Giroud a possible starter.
“We know that Chelsea will change their team from the Manchester City game, and they’ll give an opportunity to other players in the squad,” said Adams.
“But the other players in the squad have shown their strength already this season, they’ve been away to Seville and won 4-0, they’ve done well in other cup competitions.
“And they’ve got World Cup winners sitting on their bench, and that tells you about the quality they have in the squad.
“I think that we can analyse Chelsea to the heights that you can, but you’ve got to remember the quality of player that they do have.
“And it’s the quality of player more than anything that causes you the problem.
“And I think that we have to be respectful of the opposition, which we are, and give it as good a go as we can.”
