Morecambe boss Bentley challenges side to bring away form back home against Crawley

The Shrimps have won three straight away games in league and cup, stunning AFC Wimbledon with a 5-2 victory last time out on Saturday, ahead of Crawley’s visit to the Globe Arena on Tuesday night.

Bentley’s men have however also lost their last three home games, shipping 11 goals in the process, meaning the top scorers in England also have the worst defensive record in League 2.

The Shrimps boss said: “We’re in a decent position.

“We’ve cracked it on the road and it was a great result on Saturday at AFC Wimbledon.

“It’s a very difficult place to go and to score five goals is a great achievement.

“But we’ve let ourselves down at home, not going forwards, we’ve scored plenty of goals, but we’ve been sloppy and ill disciplined and that’s been our Achilles’ heel.

“We can’t be any more confident after the run we’ve had though with wins at Bury, Carlisle and Wimbledon.

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“Now it’s about continuing to work hard and trying to turn it around in front of our home fans.”

Bentley has fond memories of facing Crawley with their last visit to the Globe Arena resulting in a 6-0 Shrimps win back in 2011, Danny Carlton scoring a hat-trick.

The Shrimps boss said: “It was one of those where whoever won that game went top of the division.

“It was when I first took over and I thought I’d cracked it and was the next Alex Ferguson or something.”

The current incarnation of Crawley, under new boss Mark Yates, are currently 18th in League 2 after relegation last season.

Bentley said: “They’ve had an up and down start but I think they’ve recruited well.

“I know Mark Yates well after playing against him then facing his Cheltenham sides.

“They’ve taken Rhys Murphy from Oldham and other good players.

“They seem to have tightened up a little bit but we’re exciting going forwards at the moment.

“We’re creating chances and scoring goals but we’ve got to make sure we keep the back door shut.”

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