Morecambe boss Jim Bentley ‘has done a fabulous job’ according to Bradford City counterpart Gary Bowyer

The Bantams make the trip to the Globe Arena, hoping to inflict another defeat on a Morecambe team with only one victory in their first 12 league matches of the season.

That has seen Bentley come under fire from a section of the Shrimps fanbase but Bowyer has leapt to his defence.

He told the Yorkshire Post: “I know Jim and he has done a fabulous job there over the years.

“He deserves a crack higher up the leagues for what he has sustained at Morecambe.

“He has proved over the years that he gets his teams going and we are in for a real fight. We have got to match that.”

It isn’t the first time that Bowyer has seen fit to praise Bentley’s work in preserving the Shrimps’ EFL status.

Two-and-a-half years ago, Bowyer was in charge at Blackpool during a season in which Morecambe had well documented financial issues.

Back then, previewing a game between his former club and the Shrimps, Bowyer said: “Morecambe should be eternally grateful to Jim Bentley and the fact he’s still with them.

“You talk about a statue for Claudio Ranieri at Leicester. Well good grief, Jim deserves the ground named after him as well as having a statue for what he’s done for them.

“He’s been phenomenal for them. I said at the start of the season what a good job he’s done for them but after that, you’ve got the adversity of not having his players paid but he keeps producing teams that play good football.

“He keeps producing good players and you never hear him moan. He just gets on with it and I can’t understand how he’s not been given an opportunity in a higher league because of the job he has done.”