Shrimps count the cost of absentees

Morecambe head to Newport County AFC on Saturday with manager Jim Bentley in search of some good news.
Ben Hedley made his first league start for Morecambe on Tuesday eveningBen Hedley made his first league start for Morecambe on Tuesday evening
Ben Hedley made his first league start for Morecambe on Tuesday evening

The Shrimps make the trip on the back of Tuesday’s home loss against Mansfield Town and now face a Newport side sitting fourth in League Two.

The 1-0 defeat at the Globe Arena was Morecambe’s third in their last four league matches and came amid a crippling injury situation.

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Aaron Wildig was the latest player heading for the treatment room after failing a fitness test on Tuesday.

It meant a first league start for Ben Hedley as a patched-up Morecambe side suffered a fourth consecutive home defeat in league and cup.

“I’m massively frustrated,” Bentley said.

“We’re going up against good sides like Mansfield and Colchester last Saturday but I’m proud of the lads for their effort and commitment and I’m proud of the fans because they clapped us off again.

“Carlos 
Mendes Gomes had a fitness test and we put him on the bench but he wasn’t right. Ben Hedley came in and did well – he had that spell around the hour mark when things weren’t going for him but we’re trying to juggle and find a formula.”

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Defeat was Morecambe’s 10th in 15 league games this season and left them 20th in the table.

They are three points above the relegation places but Bentley believes a fully-fit squad would perform well against the sides above them.

He said: “I honestly believe that if we had a large percentage of those injured lads in the team, then we’d certainly be higher than we are and with more points than we have.

“Recently, some of our play has been fantastic and I’m pretty pleased with a large percentage of the stuff we’re doing in games.”