Morecambe boss Derek Adams refused to use the club’s summer overhaul as an excuse for their flat opening-day 1-0 League Two loss at Walsall.
The visitors began the season as the bookmakers’ favourites for relegation after a mass summer exodus, signing 17 new players last month after a transfer embargo was lifted.
Morecambe had seven new faces in their starting XI and failed to register a shot on target as Taylor Allen’s 20-yard strike earned Walsall victory.
“It was a slow game, we didn’t pass the ball quick enough and we’ve not created any big opportunities in the match,” said Adams, back for a third spell in charge of the Shrimps.
“It is obviously disappointing to come away with a defeat on the first day because you are always looking to start the season well.
“We’ve had all the possession in the match which means nothing because we haven’t had any shots on goal and that’s hugely disappointing because Walsall were there to be got at.
“We weren’t able to break them down and we resorted to long balls, we didn’t pass through them when we could and we couldn’t create any opportunities on goal.
“We’ve got to be better than we were today. I thought we looked nervous on the ball at times. Yes, we’ve got a lot of new faces but we have to get on with it.”
Adams felt Saddlers debutant Albert Adomah, the 36-year-old ex-Aston Villa and QPR winger who has dropped two divisions to join Walsall, should have seen red for a late tackle on Ben Tollitt.
“It was a two-footed challenge on the byline. He’s slid in, he had two feet in the air from what I could see and he was out of control. It was a clear sending-off,” Adams added.
Walsall boss Mat Sadler disagreed, and felt the Saddlers should have won by more.
“I had a very good view of the challenge, Albert slipped into the tackle,” Sadler said.
“I’m not going to deny my heart was in my mouth a little bit because it was right in front of us and the officials have to show clear heads in that moment to get it right – and they did.
“It was a dominant a 1-0 win as you can have – I don’t think they had a shot on target. We wanted that second goal but if it doesn’t come, you have to be resilient and hard to beat.
“The way we approached the first half, it felt there was going to be one team who were going to win the game. It was a really, really good opening day.
“We were very, very industrious in what we did today and it was a really good performance.”
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