Shrimps boss out to exact revenge

The Shrimps went down 1-0 to a Lutel James strike against Accrington Stanley on Boxing Day and Harvey is keen for his side to put the record straight.

"I was happy enough with our performance, but we did not get what we wanted out of the game and I felt we could have got a point," said Harvey.

"We needed to sharpen our thinking in front of goal, and I hope we get a better referee this time round."

Harvey, who used to employ his opposite number John Coleman as a striker at Morecambe, is obviously impressed by what has been achieved over recent seasons at Stanley.

"They are doing very well in their first season in the Conference and they have got some good results," he said. "They have also been helped with a good cup run that has lifted their confidence.

"It will be all about keeping up their momentum, but so far they have done very well."

Accrington's Boxing Day success over the Shrimps saw them open up a three point gap over their Lancashire rivals, moving into seventh place and the Shrimps dropped to ninth, but Harvey has all the experience to get his side up for the game - and back up the table.

As a player his clubs included Arsenal, Hereford, Bristol City, Wrexham and Tranmere, before moving into coaching at Crewe and then management at Southport.

In 1994 he joined Morecambe as assistant to former Welsh international and Clarets star Leighton James, and then took the reins when James was sacked in June of that year.

Silverware has been Morecambe's reward for keeping Harvey on board for the best part of the decade and he, like Coleman, will be keeping his sights firmly set on reaching the Conference play-offs at the end of the season.

"It was a pretty good match in terms of the sides on Boxing Day and I will expect the game to be pretty much the same on Thursday," he added.

"We have no injury problems so we will look very much the same as a side as well."