Joint Padiham boss Michael Morrison ready to roll up his sleeves in fight for survival

The Storks have taken a flurry of unanswered blows recently, with no win in 12 games sapping the confidence out of them, but they’re a long way from hitting the canvas just yet.

Morrison is a ready-made winner and now the gloves are off as the former Colne FC captain psyches himself up for battle.

“It’s tough at the minute,” he said. “This is our first time in management and because of the situation we’re in it obviously makes it twice as hard.

“I’m more than confident we can get us out of it though. We’re trying to instil a bit of togetherness in the squad so they’ll fight for each other.

“We want them to be throwing their bodies on the line. If you get the basics right and you work hard then you’ll win more games than you’ll lose. That’s half the battle. We need to get that in to their heads.”

The 34-year-old knows what it takes to succeed at this level. He’s won promotion with the Reds and reached the play-offs in the Evo-Stik League’s second tier.

The hard-tackling midfielder understands that his latest assignment is going to be tougher than anything he’s ever faced in the game but he won’t allow his first experience in management end via knockout.

After collecting his first point in the job, alongside joint boss Adam Morning, he said: “That first point meant a hell of a lot.

“It’s given us something to build on. We needed that platform. Survival is our main focus but we want to finish as high as we can.

“I’m a winner, as is Adam, and I’ve always wanted to do the best I can and play at the highest level I can. It’s the same kind of thought process to when I was a player.

“It does help that I’ve captained sides and I’ve won things at this level. I know what it takes. It helps that I’ve had that role as a leader, I know what to say and what to do. I can motivate the players.”

Padiham play Barnoldswick Town at the Ruby Civil Arena on Wednesday, with kick off at 7-45 p.m., and Morrison is hopeful of bolstering his squad ahead of the derby.

He said: “We’re always looking to improve on what we’ve got and we’ll hopefully get some signings over the line before the game against Barnoldswick Town.”