Morecambe boss Bentley still wants to bring in new faces

Morecambe boss Jim Bentley is hopeful of bringing in another senior centre-half before the League Two curtain raiser at Crewe Alexandra on Saturday.
Centre back Steve Old. Picture: B&O PRESS PHOTO.Centre back Steve Old. Picture: B&O PRESS PHOTO.
Centre back Steve Old. Picture: B&O PRESS PHOTO.

Bentley has just two senior centre-halves to pick from at the moment in Steve Old and Sam Lavelle.

Bentley is targeting competition in that role given already the duo have had knocks this pre-season with Lavelle missing last Saturday’s 3-1 loss to Fleetwood Town.

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He said: “We have obviously dismantled the squad quite a bit.

“We have got replacements for each position virtually but we are still in need of probably another attacking option and certainly a centre-half.

“That has been seen all through pre-season with Steven Old and Sam Lavelle being our only senior centre-halves.

“Oldy missed last Tuesday night with an Achilles injury and then Sam came off in that game.

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“We have been a little bit disjointed in our backline in that respect and we certainly need a centre-half through the door.

“We have young Tyler Brownsword coming through but when you lose (Dean) Winnard and (Paul) Mullin last year, we have not replaced either of them yet.

“That is the key position at the minute, maybe another attacking option which would give us a squad of 20 senior players and we have some good kids in the five or six we have in the development stages too.”

Wanting a centre-half in time for Saturday is one thing but, as Bentley admitted, bringing one in is a whole other matter.

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He said: “Centre half has been a difficult position to fill.

“A couple of years ago it was left back, last pre-season we know that it was centre-half that is how we stumbled across Sam Lavelle.

“Oldy came into the club later in pre-season with the Swedish season finishing in June so centre half has been a problem position in this window.

“We have missed out on four or five but we will keep plugging away and hopefully we can get one this week that can go into the squad for Saturday because you cannot run with two senior centre-halves.

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“To be fair, with Sam Lavelle, although he was excellent last season he has only played 30 odd games at that level so he is still virtually a newby and a little bit inexperienced so we do need to get someone in to help us out in that department.”