'We kicked ourselves in the backside' - Jim Bentley on Morecambe's FA Cup exit

The Shrimps led early on in the first round replay at the Ricoh Arena through Dean Winnard but saw a Marvin Sordell double knock them out with a 2-1 defeat on Tuesday night.

Bentley, whose side next host Luton in League Two on Saturday, said: “At home we probably should’ve won but this time they’ve been the better footballing side and we’ve kicked ourselves in the backside in the manner in which we’ve conceded the goals and that’s the disappointing thing.

“Certainly the second one was just too easy to score against us.

“I’m saying the same things so things will have to change in that respect.

“I’m gutted and I’m gutted for the fans. They got behind us, they sung hard and clapped us off at the end.

“We have had a go against a decent side from a higher level.

“We did have the belief we were going to get through but when you don’t it doesn’t half hurt.”

It was a result that continued Morecambe’s poor recent record in the competition with Bentley, in charge for more than five years, still craving a good FA Cup run.

He said: “I’d rather sacrifice getting to the semi-finals of the JPT last year and qualifying in the Checkatrade this year.

“We’ve done really well in the league cup, beating Rotherham and all the other things we’ve had over the last couple of years - playing Newcastle, beating Wolves, going away to Barnsley in my first year.

“We’ve had some fantastic games and results in that competition but the big one you want to do well in is the FA Cup.”

There was no shame in defeat to the League One strugglers but Bentley couldn’t hide his frustration as a real chance to progress went begging.

He said: “We went with a positive mindset, we knew where we could hurt them and knew what to expect from them.

“We knew one of the strengths we had tonight was on set plays, long throws and counter attacking football and it all went to plan.

“We hit them on the break a couple of times, did cause problems from set plays and the first goal came from that through Dean Winnard as it did at home.

“But I talk about game management and it’s okay saying we should push for a second but five minutes before half-time maybe we should over defend.

“We worked hard to get back but after a good bit of play they’ve scored.

“It just changed the whole outlook and the second goal’s absolutely criminal.”