STEPHEN Dobbie is doing everything he can do to convince Neil Lennon he is worth a contract at Wanderers – but the manager’s mind may well be elsewhere at present.

The former Crystal Palace man has been on trial for nearly a fortnight, and capped an enterprising performance with his first goal in Bolton colours at the Globe Arena.

But on this evidence, Lennon has plenty of work on his hands bringing his midfield and back four up to the same standards that Dobbie, Emile Heskey and Gary Madine have shown so far this summer.

A third consecutive defeat means little at this stage of the year but Lennon cannot help but be concerned with certain positions, not least a midfield which has laboured in possession at the start of pre-season and struggled to cut open a dogged Morecambe back four at times last night.

Right-back is a problem position, and a solution may have materialised in ex-Charlton Athletic man Lawrie Wilson, available on a free transfer, and who appeared as a second-half substitute.

Former Newcastle United man Ryan Taylor is also a distinct possibility, with Lennon hinting after that game that he could bring in two more defenders if efforts to shift out a few of his fringe stars go according to plan.

There was little to get excited about early on for around 250 fans who had braved the terrible traffic and rail delays.

Wanderers took an eternity to warm-up in the wild Fylde coast winds, Lennon spending the majority of the opening 20 minutes snarling at his side to keep hold of the ball.

League Two Morecambe were certainly up for causing an upset, and Ben Amos had to bail out the Whites a couple of times in the opening exchanges, once from Aaron Wildig’s angled drive and again from Lee Molyneux’s free kick, then turned behind in the nick of time by Dean Moxey.

Though the football through midfield was patchy at best, Wanderers were finding some joy down the left side with full-back Moxey.

He swung in a couple of dangerous crosses towards newly-installed skipper Darren Pratley that worried home keeper Barry Roche.

But his attacking instincts also left room in behind – and that is where Morecambe looked to exploit when they hit on the break.

New boy Derik Osede was getting his first taste of English style football and in the first half he showed some flashes of why Lennon worked so hard to get him to the Macron. Reading the game appears to be the Spaniard’s strong suit and his pace also got him out of a few holes early on.

While all eyes were on trialist Wilson on the bench, it was soon another man looking to make his name at Bolton who took centre stage.

In fact Dobbie should probably have opened the scoring before he did, drilling one shot wide from the edge of the box with the goal begging. But the Scot didn’t dwell on it, and once he got free down the middle on another long ball from the back, he made no mistake with his second effort from a similar position.

But for the post, he could have had a second before half time.

Emile Heskey, in for his first start of pre-season and up against Bolton’s own Andy Parrish, got to the byline and pulled a cross back for his strike partner, whose shot bounced off the bottom of the woodwork.

For Morecambe to be two down would not have been a true reflection of the first half and they could have brought themselves level when a slip from Amos presented a chance for Peter Murphy to lob him from 30 yards out. Thankfully for the Wanderers keeper, the wind caught hold on the winger’s shot and he was able to catch it in relative comfort.

The seasiders soon got on level terms, though, with Wildig finishing off a lovely flowing move, side-footing home Molyneux’s cross from the right.

Even then the Whites could have retaken the lead. Pratley volleyed just over the top after Heskey had headed Walker’s cross back at the far post, and the captain also had another effort deflect off Morecambe defender Adam Dugdale with the last touch of the half.

Whereas Derik had looked assured in the first 45 minutes, the young defender committed a dreadful error to gift Morecambe the lead almost immediately after the restart.

With very little pressure on him, he under-hit a backpass towards Amos, allowing Paul Mullin to nip in and squeeze a shot into the bottom corner.

In fairness, Derik didn’t let the mistake play on his mind. A few minutes later he drifted a fine 30-yard pass to Neil Danns’ feet, who laid the ball off for Walker to bounce a shot off the crossbar.

Dobbie had another effort chalked out for offside after some neat football involving Heskey and Walker, after which the mandatory flood of substitutions were made.

It was clearly too much activity for someone – as Morecambe continued for nearly a minute with 12 men on the pitch.

Wilson came on for Dorian Dervite, which meant Hayden White moved into the middle of defence.

But Wanderers continued to struggle in midfield, Jay Spearing and Neil Danns peripheral figures in a game that needed them to take charge.

Enter Josh Vela for his first pre-season outing, the youngster also seizing control of the captain’s armband in Pratley’s absence. Midfield looked more solid with him in command but still Wanderers struggled to make any clear cut chances, wasting a couple of key passes as they got anywhere near the home goal.

The changes had their usual destabilising effect on the flow of the game but Wanderers could have pulled themselves level when more good work from Dobbie was wasted by sub Liam Feeney close in.

Arms folded, Lennon stomped back to his dugout after that miss – the picture at that point worth a thousand words.

“I thought we were okay in the first half but our play in the final third needs to be better,” said the Wanderers boss. “We had chances with the possession we had but we should have taken care of the ball.

“We’ve hit the bar, hit the post, had a goal disallowed, and when you make a lot of changes it can affect the flow of the game.

“I’m accommodating players at the minute and we just want to keep them all up to speed. It’s maybe a bit mix and match.

“I wouldn’t say I was overly concerned but there are a few concerns there, yes.”

Wanderers: Amos; White, Dervite (Wilson), Derik (Taylor 70), Moxey (Twardzik 70); Pratley (Feeney 61), Spearing, Danns (Vela 70), Walker (Hall 77); Dobbie, Heskey (Madine 61).

Sub not used: Fitzsimons.