Morecambe boss Bentley hopes most of ‘walking wounded’ will be fit to face Notts County

Had The Shrimps not been knocked out by Sheffield United in the first round of the Capital One Cup Bentley says he would have had to patch together a side for round two this week.

The squad have now however had a few days to recover after the 3-3 draw at Portsmouth with Notts County the visitors to the Globe Arena on Saturday.

Bentley said: “We’d rather have got through in the cup and had a game but I honestly think we’d have struggled to field a side.

“It’s been a bit of a blessing we’ve had the whole week to get everyone right.

“We’ve had a behind-closed-doors game in Wigan that quite a few of the others have played in to get up to speed and we’ll do all we can to make sure they’re right mentally and physically ahead of what is another big game.”

In addition to suspensions for Ryan Edwards and Kevin Ellison, the list of those with bumps and bruises is a lengthy one with Adam Dugdale’s nasty eye injury the most gruesome of the lot.

Bentley said: “I thought Adam Dugdale was excellent on his debut (at Portsmouth), especially getting through the full 90 minutes in the way he did.

“He got a nasty bang on the eye and slit his eyeball which was bleeding. But he soldiered on and got on with it.

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“He was an absolute mess on Monday morning and saw the doctor but we hope he’ll be aright for the weekend.

“(Alan) Goodall went off with a heel injury, (Laurence) Wilson had a slight problem, (Shaun) Beeley had a fitness test before the game, (Andy) Parrish had a bit of a bad back, we knew Tom Barkhuizen was going to blow up because he’s not played much football and is an explosive player and Shaun Miller was playing his second game in a week having not played much.

“It’s very tough and we’re the walking wounded at the moment with regards to injuries and suspensions but that’s football and we’ve just got to get on with it.”

Bentley however says there is little chance of any new arrivals to boost his depleted squad.

The Shrimps boss said: “Loan wise you’re always exploring where you can improve and if we need to just give the squad a little bit of help.

“We’ve had got one or two ideas but at this moment I’m concentrating on the Notts County game and getting our lads fit and well.

“We’re hoping that (physio) Simon Farnworth and the doctor can do their work and the majority of the people who’ve had bumps and bruises will be fine for the weekend.

“That’s what we’re hoping.”

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