Preview: Stevenage v Morecambe

Stevenage had been watching Lee Cox for a month before an ACL injury to Steven Schumacher this week prompted their decision to bring the Plymouth midfielder in on loan.

Cox, who joined Stevenage on Thursday in a deal that will last until January, is expected to be part of the squad that hosts Morecambe this weekend, but Schumacher on the other hand is set to miss up to nine months through the injury he picked up at Bristol Rovers.

Boro were already missing the experience of Dave McAllister in the centre of the pitch before the injury to Schumacher, and Sheringham has acted to bolster his squad with the arrival of Cox.

“We have been watching Lee for the last month and like what we’ve seen of him,” Sheringham said.

“It was apparent once Schuey got injured that we might need a bit more experience in there at some stage in the next six to seven weeks before we can do anything else.

“And Lee will definitely do something for us in there. He’s an experienced player, he’s played maybe 150 league games at different levels. He’ll be a good acquisition to have around the place as well.”

Schumacher’s ability to protect the back four will be sorely missed by the club, and they will be hoping that Morecambe, the league’s second top scorers, won’t be able to take advantage of his absence this weekend.

Stevenage are currently 20th in the league table, and haven’t moved up or down positions for the past six weeks.

Victory this weekend could see them move up to 18th if other results go their way, but Sheringham says the only thing that matters is the final standings come the end of the season.

“As a home team…we want to keep clean sheets and feel good about ourselves at home, and come out and win the game,” Sheringham said.

“That’s not easy against a team that has a record of scoring a lot of goals.

“If the two teams above us win as well then we stay in 20th. It doesn’t really matter at the moment; it’s where you end the season [that’s important].

“When you get a win like [Bristol Rovers] you hope to move up the table but we’ve opened up a four or five point gap [on some teams below] so we’re close behind the ones in front of us.

“If we get a win and others get a win then we stay where we are. That’s all ifs and buts. We need to be at our best on Saturday if we want to get a result.”