Morecambe boss Bentley braced for busy couple of weeks

The Shrimps complete their League 2 campaign at home to relegated York on Saturday hoping to send the Globe Arena faithful into the summer on a positive after a nightmare 2016.

For Bentley there’s plenty of work to do off the field with uncertainty about the club’s future ownership making planning for next season far from straight forward.

Only eight players are contracted beyond the end of the season with Shaun Beeley, Jamie Devitt, Shaun Miller, Andy Fleming, Ryan Edwards and Andy Parrish amongst those whose futures are yet to be ironed out.

Bentley said: “I’m looking forward to a break I’ve got to be honest.

“But knowing the way I am after a day or two I’ll be itching to get back.

“It’s been a long, hard slog this season, the hardest one I’ve had as a manager for quite a few different reasons.

“All our energies have got to go into Saturday’s game. We’ve got to do our upmost to win it and finish on a positive.

“Then I’ll try and get some sort of rest but I’ve got to start trying to build a squad for next season and putting things in place with regards to pre-season and things like that.”

Bentley, who has indicated he knows which players he wants to keep, knows some will move on regardless of his wishes with Devitt and Miller attracting interest from elsewhere are fine seasons.

He said: “There’s ongoing meetings and what will be, will be in the next week or two.

“There are players we want to keep but will move on. You can’t stand in their way because after having a good season with us their future may be elsewhere.

“Whether they can move up a level or get better financial gain somewhere else.

“That’s life, it’s football and they’ll move on with our best wishes.

“But we will try and keep the one’s we want to keep.

“There’s a lot to sort out over the next couple of weeks.”