Karl Robinson saw Salford City increase their chances of playing League Two football again next season with a 3-1 win over Morecambe but reckons his side are far from the finished article.
Connor McLennan and Callum Hendry fired the Ammies 2-0 ahead only for a Theo Vassell own goal to put the outcome in doubt.
Instead, centre-half Curtis Tilt netted a bullet header from Luke Garbutt’s corner after 79 minutes to leave Salford 11 points above the drop zone.
For Morecambe, a third successive defeat further derailed their play-off ambitions.
“We are still way off what I expect this football club to be,” said manager Robinson. “We have got to be a lot better in an awful lot of areas.
“It is something we will strive for between now and the end of the season.
“We will get better but we have to try and win a few more games.”
“I am pleased, though, with the four days,” he added of Salford’s four-point haul including a 2-2 draw against high flying Stockport.
“But it leaves you with a tinge of frustration when you think Morecambe would have gone into a play-off position had they won.
“We played Stockport and people tell me how far advanced to everyone else they are. But we didn’t show any fear in these two games.”
Robinson admitted he wondered if lightning might strike twice at 2-1.
“I did say to Brucey (coach Alex Bruce) at one stage ‘I wonder if we can see this one out’. But we showed a tremendous level of calmness.”
Morecambe have now conceded 11 goals in their last three games. And frustrated manager Ged Brannan pulled no punches with his assessment of the Shrimps’ latest performance.
“That is the worst I have felt since I took over the job,” he admitted. “We showed nothing.
“It is unacceptable and we can’t play like that. I am going to have a good think to see if we can change something.
“You can’t have seven, even eight players, on the pitch not having a good day.
“Everyone on the pitch could have done better. We have got to work a lot harder.
“I felt so sorry for the fans and they were still singing even when we were getting beat.”
Vassell’s own goal just past the hour suggested Morecambe might rescue a point as Stockport did four days earlier.
“Once we scored they were rocking a bit,” agreed Brannan. “We had a few little chances and we were on the front foot and I thought ‘here we go.’
“But we just stopped and went back into the mould of going long and playing right into their own hands.”
