Morecambe boss Bentley desperate for deadline-day deals

While the Shrimps battle issues off the field, Bentley has enough on his plate trying to cope with on-field matters.

The departures of five loanees and Tom Barkhuizen, coupled with suspensions to Andy Fleming and Dean Winnard, have decimated the manager’s selection options.

One of those loanees, Alex Whitmore, has returned for the rest of the season while Antony Evans has joined from Everton on a similar basis.

However, with a hectic run of games on the horizon, the manager acknowledges he needs as many players as possible – while working under a transfer embargo.

“We’re trying to get bodies in but there are a lot of things going on and a lot of things we have to do,” Bentley said.

“The bottom line is we can’t expect to go the rest of the season with only 18 senior professionals.

“We need to get a body or two in to help us because there are going to be injuries and suspensions along the way.

“There are 14 games in two months so it’s a very, very busy time and we need to bring in a couple of players.

“There’s the negativity surrounding the place with regards to stuff off the field and getting paid or not so the (manager’s) job is virtually impossible.”

The abolition of the loan window has made it more difficult for lower league clubs with the safety net of loaning players in the case of injuries having been taken away from them.

Bentley said: “The problem with the loan window not being available any more after the window closes is that people are going with bigger squads than they have before.

“They don’t want to be down to the bare bones; they want to have back-up in case they suffer with injuries, suspensions or a loss of form.

“That way they have better options in case any of that happens.

“In our case, when you put all of that in there with us not having money, having the transfer embargo, the location and where we are as a club, then you see it’s very hard for you to do your job but you can only do what you can do.”