Morecambe boss Bentley: There’s no need for knee-jerk reaction

The Shrimps were way below their best in the 4-2 humbling by Northampton Town last time out but Bentley doesn’t think making wholesale changes is the way to go.

Most of the squad do however look set to get a chance in the coming weeks with Morecambe set to play five times in 14 days from Saturday.

Bentley said: “We don’t want a kneejerk reaction because we have lost a game.

“Do we go and make five or six changes and hope it works?

“I know in football everyone has opinions, everyone has what they think is the magic formula but if you asked a 1,000 of our fans to name the starting XI they’d all be different.

“That’s the nature of the game.

“There’s players who are nailed down and doing well but even they will need a breather at times.

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“I’ve got to make sure I do what’s right by the squad and by individuals.

“We’ve got a tough schedule and there are going to be changes win, lose or draw.”

The run is likely to see key men given a break with some of the new faces at the Globe Arena having not played regular football in recent seasons.

Bentley said: “If you look at some of our players Tom Barkhuizen hadn’t played 90 minutes for three of four years before he came to us.

“Now he’s playing every week and it’s hard to acclimatise to that scenario when you’re not used to stringing games together.

“It’s the same with Aaron Wildig and Shaun Miller. There’s quite a few within our group.”

More than anything Bentley is keen to get the balance right with his side having dazzled going forwards but shown signs of weakness at the back in recent weeks.

The Shrimps boss said: “Going forwards we’re looking good and are really positive.

“But we’ve got to get the balance right. There’s a fine line between scoring goals and conceding them.

“Do you shut up shop and take something away from your attacking flair or do you continue to go the way you’re going?

“When you get beaten at home in the manner we did you’ve got to address things.”

Bentley has a largely fully fit squad to choose from with long-term absentee Peter Murphy set to be back in and around the squad from Monday ahead of a scheduled return in mid-November.

The new Shrimps captain injured medial knee ligaments on the opening day of the season at Hartlepool.

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