They fell to 12th after that, but a three-point deduction on Thursday put them in 14th place and eliminated all chance of making the playoffs.
The year had started with Brannan seeing all five loanees leave the club within a week, followed by the sale of Adam Mayor to Millwall.
During the winter transfer window, eight new players were brought in, including Barker, who signed a contract to last until the end of the campaign.
After leaving the Cypriot club Omonia in August of last year, the 27-year-old became a free agent. In January, he made two substitute appearances against MK Dons and Colchester United before sustaining a hamstring injury.
Since then, Barker has remained injury-free, leaving Brannan to wonder what might have been.
The Morecambe manager stated, “Brandon is recuperating nicely, but I’m not sure if we’ll get him on the pitch.”
“I was so hoping to see him play that his injury has been the biggest disappointment for me, not him personally.
He would have been a top player in this division, so hopefully we can sign him for next season.
“It was a freak injury that happened during training on the artificial pitch, and everyone knew it was a pretty bad tear,” the player said.
If Brannan has been most disappointed by Barker’s absence from the pitch, then the Shrimps’ home performance comes in close second.
Prior to tomorrow’s trip to Stockport County, Morecambe’s away record is the seventh best in League Two, but their home performance has been far from ideal.
Despite having gained 31 points more at home this season than away (31 to 29), they have only triumphed in three of Brannan’s 14 games at Mazuma Mobile Stadium.
Owing to the intense competition for League Two’s play-off and automatic promotion berths, it’s difficult not to view this season as a wasted chance.
Brannan acknowledged this point of view, saying, “Our away form has been fantastic and that just shows you, we would have been pushing for the top three if we had our home form sorted.”
“A lot has happened, but other clubs will argue that a lot has also happened to them.
However, you also need to consider the advantages. Everyone predicted that we would lose the season from the start because of the summer we had (with 14 players released and only six players with contracts).
“Despite the deduction, we are six points shy of 63, which would be the best finish the club has ever had if we finished the season with that hasn’t been in the play-offs.
The players would benefit much from something like that because, well done, they have handled all that has been thrown at them.
“I’m proud of every single one of them; they have given it their all in every game and have put on some amazing performances along the way.”
