MORECAMBE will always have a special place in John Coleman’s heart – but the former Shrimps legend is hoping to put one over his old side.

In six years at Christie Park, Coleman scored an incredible 201 goals in just under 400 appearances and wrote his name into the club’s history.

But when Sammy McIlroy brings his buoyant Shrimps to the Fraser Eagle Stadium tonight, there will be no love lost.

The sides played out a 1-1 draw in October when two own goals saw the sides take a share of the spoils.

But after Saturday’s disa-ppointing draw against Barnet, Coleman will be desperate to humble the club that used to regard him as a hero.

He said: “They are generally good games against Morecambe and we’re hoping for another one on tonight.

“I had six good years at Morecambe. It was profitable on all counts because I scored a lot of goals there and I was well looked after.

“I’ve still got a few friends on the board and amongst the fans as well. We’ve generally done well against Morecambe and hopefully that can continue.”

He added: “These are blood and thunder games. Both teams rise to the occasion and you look at the derbies in the past and they’re always full-blooded affairs. Hopefully we can use that to our advantage and build on the momentum that the inevitable will bring.

“But we will need to force them back a bit more than we did against Barnet.”

As a striker of some repute in non-league football, Coleman was delighted for Reds hitman Paul Mullin as he scored his first goal in eight games.

And Coleman was pleased that his veteran frontman found his scoring touch once again.

He added: “It was good for Paul (Mullin) to get his goal. He never stops trying and he got his reward for getting across the front post. Maybe he can do that a bit more.

“I’ve played up front all of my life and you get the plaudits when things go well, but you have to be prepared to put the graft in when you go through a lean spell of scoring and Paul’s done that.

“Hopefully now he can kick on and get a few more. We have got players who are quite gifted and we have to get them on the ball more.

“Kallum Higginbotham is one of those and he did well and he will only get better with the more games he plays.”

Coleman has added Liverpool’s Craig Lindfield to bolster his armoury for tonight and has promised his side will play on the front foot in what promises to be a white-hot atmosphere at the Fraser Eagle Stadium.

“The players respond to a good atmosphere but, first of all, you have to make your own atmosphere and you do that by creating chances and being on the front foot and being positive,” he said.