Under-pressure Bentley feeling the heat as 'desperate' Morecambe target much-needed victory over Cobblers

The Shrimps are without a win in their last eight games across all competitions and a sequence of three successive defeats - all against sides 16th or lower - has left them 22nd in Sky Bet League Two.

Bentley took charge of Morecambe way back in 2011, making him the longest-serving manager currently in the EFL, but some fans have been calling for him to go ahead of Saturday's visit of Northampton.

“Last week was the first time I have heard the fans sing for my head and that isn’t nice," Bentley told The Visitor. "It’s not nice to hear that people put polls on social media about whether you should still be in charge.

“If you lie down and don’t fight there will always be someone there to kick you when you are down, so we all have to roll up our sleeves, put our gumshields in and get ready for the battle.

“Some of our football this season has been excellent and I still point to the 25-pass goal that we scored against Exeter that seemed to go unnoticed. But it is clear there is a lack of confidence there at the moment and we are on a losing streak.

“I’ll back my players for their ability and they are a good, honest bunch. But there is no doubt there are a few under-performing and a few partnerships that aren’t working as well as we expect at the moment.

“It is up to the players when they go over that white line to find a way of winning. They are not doing that at the minute and the pressure is on us all to make sure we sort it out together, starting against Northampton."

Morecambe's first win of last season came against the Cobblers and central defender Sam Lavelle is hoping they can repeat the trick this weekend.

“The lads do see things on social media with some people saying they are not trying and it does hurt them," he said.

“We have a really good set of lads here and I can guarantee that every single one of them is giving their absolute all in training and in games. We all know we are in a bad run and we are desperate to get out of it.

“It was clear there was a bit of a lack of quality at Oldham and some below0par performances, including me, but we can’t dwell on that now and we have to look forward and make sure we do all we can to get three points on Saturday."