Shrimps entering '˜vital' few weeks of season

The game sees the 21st-placed Shrimps welcome a side just one place above them in League Two after 11 games of the campaign.

It is the kind of game Bentley feels his side need to be picking up points from if they are to move away from the wrong end of the table.

After hosting Harry Kewell’s men games against Chesterfield, Port Vale, Grimsby and Forest Green Rovers follow, all teams in and around the Shrimps in the lower reaches of the Football League.

He said: “We have played most of the top teams in the league already and for most of it we have done okay.

“Nobody had steamrollered us until last Saturday at Exeter and I know our performances have deserved better.

“But we now have a vital few weeks ahead of us as we play teams that are in and around us in the league table at the moment and we have to make sure we are at our best.

“It is a vital month and it has to be a good month for us.”

Kewell’s Crawley have had a mixed start and will be striving for some consistency when they head north at the weekend.

The Reds have won three, drawn one and lost seven so far, with the former Leeds and Liverpool winger in his first managerial role.

“They’re a good footballing side, they’ve got dangerous players,” Bentley said.

“They’ve had an up-and-down start with some good results and some indifferent results.

“They’re missing one of their main players Josh Yorwerth, who got sent off at the weekend so he’ll be suspended for them and he’ll be a big miss.

“We’re at home and we’ve been decent at home.

“Looking at all the performances recently, we’ve beaten Newport and we turned a in a strong performance against a very good Luton side.

“Even in the games that we have lost there have been positive performances.

“We’ll do our homework on Crawley as we always do and we’ll know where the strengths and weaknesses lie but it’s about ourselves.

“If we get our own house in order and we remain positive and believe in what we’re doing we’ll hopefully win the game.”

Bentley’s men head into the game looking to build on an encouraging display in their 2-1 Checkatrade Trophy defeat at Fleetwood, a marked improvement on the 4-1 reverse at Exeter last time out in League Two.

“I’ll be honest, I thought we could be proud of all our performances up until last Saturday,” said Bentley.

“Saturday wasn’t like us, it was a blip.

“I really didn’t see it coming.”