Bentley’s praise for battered and bruised Morecambe after Notts County win

Morecambe boss Jim Bentley was full of praise for his battered and bruised side after they beat Notts County 4-1 on Saturday.
Morecambe v Notts County - Shrimps LiveMorecambe v Notts County - Shrimps Live
Morecambe v Notts County - Shrimps Live

The Shrimps overcame a string of injuries on the day to pick up a fine three points with Alan Goodall, Paul Mullin, Alex Kenyon and Jamie Devitt on target.

Bentley said: “I’m absolutely made up.

“The lads deserve every bit of praise today.

“It was one of the most pleasing wins we’ve had.Talk about down to the bare bones, I don’t think there’s any bones left.

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“We had to change both full backs, (Laurence) Wilson before the game, (Shaun) Beeley during the game, (Aaron) Wildig came off, (Peter) Murphy’s in the stands with Kevin Ellison and Ryan Edwards and there’s lads who haven’t played many minutes.

“Every one of them dug in today. I thought Goodall stepped up to the plate, Fleming was good, Devitt ran himself into the ground, it’s hard to name them all.

“Aaron McGowan’s come in who’s very inexperienced and put in a good 90-minute performance.

“Yes we rode our luck at times, we looked a little bit disjointed, but we were strong and resolute at set pieces because we knew we were in the land of the giants.

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“When we went to 2-1, knowing what we’ve got on the pitch, you’re just hoping you can hang on.

“But they kept plugging away and got in and put the icing on the cake.”

Adam Dugdale was amongst the patched up players to put in a stellar display, the big defender having struggled with his vision in the run up to the game.

Bentley said: “I thought he was superb today and until 12 o’clock he couldn’t see.

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“He got a nasty bang last week and slit his eyeball open and it looked like he was going to be okay.

“But he had to see a specialist just to be sure. He had drops put in his eye at Lancaster hospital about 11.30 and it takes between one and four hours to wear off so we didn’t know if he was going to be okay.

“He was desperate to play and I thought his performance just typified the day.”

Wilson limped out of the warm-up with a calf problem while Beeley’s hamstring problem could rule him out for months rather than weeks.

Wildig was replaced at half-time having battled illness.

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Back-up goalkeeper Tony Thompson missed the game having dislocated a finger in training with Bentley failing in a bid to bring in a stopper on loan before the game.