DON’T let Derek Adams hear you refer to his team as “little old Morecambe”.

The club from “Bradford by the sea” have been a revelation this season to move within a win of potential automatic promotion.

Adams, who is understood to have been interviewed for the City job in December, has masterminded an incredible campaign with one of the smallest budgets in League Two.

The Shrimps are a point behind third-placed Bolton, whose choke against Exeter last week has opened the door again if they fail to win at Crawley.

Morecambe have already set a new club record of 75 points to book what would be only the second play-off appearance in their history.

Adams has built their unlikely success around a strong team ethic – and a belief to think bigger.

The Lancashire side have traditionally been written off as relegation fodder but the former Plymouth boss has been determined to change how they see themselves.

“The mindset is that we are trying to be not ‘little old Morecambe’,” he said at the start of the season.

“We are trying to be Morecambe Football Club and we are trying to be bigger and better than we ever have been, and that’s the mindset I’ve got to change in a lot of people at the football club going forward.”

That has proved to be the case as the Shrimps sit hot on the heels of Bolton and Cambridge. Last week’s win at Walsall guaranteed a top-seven finish, despite missing seven players.

Former City defender Kelvin Mellor is still suspended after his red card against Bolton a fortnight ago but top scorer Carlos Mendes Gomes hopes to return.

Adams said: “The players have been a fantastic credit to the club and to take the season to the final game is brilliant.

“We have already set the record for the highest number of points in a Football League season and we have already secured a play-off spot, and that is testament to the players and their attitudes.

“I love them to bits and am delighted to be in the position we are in.”