Morecambe U18s are on the road at the weekend as they head to Rochdale in the Youth Alliance League
The U18s will look to get back to winning ways after their 2-0 defeat to Port Vale at home last weekend.
They travel south to Rochdale this Saturday in the hopes of bringing back three points. The reverse fixture against the Dale, took place in December 2021, which saw the young Shrimps run out 2-0 winners.
The Opposition
Rochdale head into the clash in good form, they have four wins and one draw in their last five games, and their last league outing was a goal fest which saw them see off Accrington Stanley by five-goals-to-four.
Lead of the Professional Development Phase, Chris Brown, played professional football before he became a UEFA qualified coach. He came through the ranks at Rochdale’s and made his senior debut for the club in a Football League Trophy fixture back in 2009.
The former defender went on to play for clubs such as Ashton United, Droylsden, Hyde and Mossley. Brown returned to Rochdale and spent four years working with the younger end of their Academy, before becoming lead coach for the Youth Development level. In 2016, he was appointed Youth Team Manager in addition to continuing his role as lead coach for the U16s.
Pre-Match Thoughts
Ahead of the game, Lead PDP coach Darren Finch, says his team know what to expect from Rochdale and that their training has been good this week.
“It’s always a tough game against Rochdale, they’re a team that like to keep possession, so we’ve got to be working hard to close it down and win the ball back.
“The main emphasis when we get the ball is to keep it, which is something we didn’t do well on Saturday against Port Vale.
“We have to make sure we keep it and retain it when we can, especially if you are playing against a team that are renown for keeping the ball, so that’s something we have been working on.
“Training has gone well this week; they’ve been looking in good form. We’ve also had some of the U16s with us this week which has been good, hopefully they can start to be more involved with training and matches so they can get an insight into what it will be like when they join us next year.”