Morecambe boss wants his squad to stay together

Striker Charlie Brown was the first to accept the offer of a contract when he signed a new deal ahead of last midweek’s clash against Crawley Town.

Brannan hopes others will follow, having expanded on his comments at the recent fans’ forum where he said deals had been offered to players.

The Morecambe boss revealed: “We have offered about 10 contracts to players and I am hoping many of them will take up the offer.

“I’m delighted that Charlie has accepted his deal because he has been a revelation for me since I have been here and is a great lad.

“Hopefully other lads will look at the fact Charlie has agreed and follow his lead as we look forward.

“We have some good players here and the basis of a really good squad – and we want to do all we can to keep them here.”

Brannan has also called on his Morecambe squad to bounce back quickly from last Saturday’s defeat to Wrexham, with 10 games ahead in the final six-and-a-half weeks of the season.

The Shrimps, who travel to Newport County AFC tonight (7.45pm), are 10th in League Two but only one point behind the play-off positions despite last weekend’s loss at the Mazuma Mobile Stadium.

Brannan said: “We played some great stuff on Saturday and were on top until we handed them a way back in the game, and then went down to 10 men due to a really soft sending off.

“We were angry after the game but we have to move on and get ready for the games ahead.

“Every game will be vital and we will make sure we prepare as well as we can for them all.

“We are not talking about the play-offs because we are just taking each game as it comes and will look to pick up as many points as we can to see where that takes us.”

One negative for Brannan, however, is the news that Farrend Rawson may be out for between three and five weeks after picking up a groin injury.