Walsall vs Morecambe preview: Darrell Clarke aiming for positive end to the season

A disappointing defeat to Carlisle on Saturday has dented the club’s hopes of a late surge for the play-off places this season.

Their mission to resurrect those hopes starts tonight at home to struggling Morecambe, who sit second bottom of the division, and Clarke is urging his players to bounce back from defeat and set up a positive end to the campaign.

“It is something to build on but we have got to bounce back,” he said.

“We have got to make sure we consistently get good positive results between now and the end of the season, the lads will know that.

“It will be important for their futures that we finish on a real good high.

“There is plenty of competition I think now for my players, as in players know now their roles and responsibilities and they know that there is somebody breathing down their neck.

“That is good for the football club and it is good for me, it’s good to have those problems.

“Players have got to be under pressure to perform between now and the end of the season.

“It’s very important to have competition for places and we are trying to get as many players back as fit as possible.

“Danny (Guthrie) and (Stuart) Sinclair need more match minutes but at the right time and more training ground minutes to be able to keep pushing themselves on from where they’re at.”

A promising festive period and start to 2020 saw the Saddlers reach within eight points of seventh place twice in recent weeks.

Results now leave them 10 points off the play-offs and Clarke believes it’s important to shake off the ‘negativity’ of the Carlisle loss as soon as possible.

“With no disrespect, in the bigger picture we have had that consistency,” he said.

“Today is a very frustrating day but we have just got to make sure that we don’t have the negativity around us for too long.

“It’s good that we have got another game on Tuesday night because we can try and bounce back.”

Morecambe are languishing second bottom of League Two and are bottom of the away form table but Clarke isn’t taking his opponents for granted.

“Morecambe don’t travel well but like we have said, there is nothing in the division,” he added.

“I am looking forward to Tuesday but I am also looking forward to playing some of the top teams as well. I’m looking forward to all the games between now and the end of the season and picking up as many points as possible.

"Derek Adams is a very experienced manager.

"He got Plymouth promoted out of this division and they will be a very, very tough nut to crack and we expect nothing but a tough game.

"So we will go away and dust ourselves down following this game, we will assess it and then we will try and pick up the three points on Tuesday."