Morecambe boss Bentley: Plenty to be proud of this season

The 2-1 defeat to Burton on Saturday was met with plenty of dissatisfaction from the Globe Arena terraces, some of which was directed at Bentley himself.

One double change with 20 minutes to play was met with chants of “you don’t know what you’re doing” from a small number of fans in the Omega Holidays Stand.

But despite the error-ridden display that saw Burton seal promotion Bentley believes the Shrimps’ current standing, 12th in League 2, means there is plenty to be positive about.

He said: “I keep getting a few moody comments around me.

“But a team of our size is still in the top half.

“We want to finish strongly, we’ve improved on last season and we’re going in the right direction.

“Yes we came up (from the Conference) with Burton but we’re a little bit behind them now looking at backroom staff, training facilities and squads.

“It’s up to us to try and get better on and off the pitch, improve again in the summer and improve again next season.

“There’s plenty to be pleased with and plenty to be proud of this season.

“I’ve learnt a lot about myself over the last couple of weeks and I’m hoping that will stand me in good stead for next season’s challenge.”

Bentley next takes his side to promotion chasing Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday.

Having failed to halt one promotion charge on Saturday the Shrimps boss is hoping his side can fare better against Gareth Ainsworth’s Chairboys.

Morecambe’s tendency to perform better on the road means that would be far from a shock as Bentley looks to reach 60 points for the first time since he took charge back in 2011.

He said: “We didn’t help ourselves on Saturday and yes at home we haven’t been great.

“We haven’t got the balance right of when to get the nasty side and the basics right.

“We’ve done it perfectly away from home.

“We want to get to 60 points and we’re going to play a part in the run in against Southend (the final game of the season on May 2) and Wycombe who are both going for promotion.

“So let’s finish strongly and hopefully put more points on the board.”