SHRIMPS’ boss Jim Bentley says his side are set for the battle as they face the new season.
Once again the Shrimps have been tipped for the drop by a number of pundits but Bentley says his side are more than capable of defying the doubters once again and cause a few shocks along the way.
Looking ahead to the season he said: “I think it will be a tough league, very tough.
“It’s probably the toughest it’s been because you’ve got the teams like Mansfield, Notts County, big clubs at the level, who have struggled over the last couple of years but have shown real ambition this year.
“The teams that have come down, the likes of Coventry and Chesterfield, they seem to be investing and doing good business.
“And if you look at the teams that have come up Lincoln have got a lot of money, Forest Green have, and again they are investing on the back of promotion. “Every club seems to be kicking on.
“I think the league will be very competitive but we’ll try and do the business and upset some people, that’s what we’re looking to do.”
Despite the challenge ahead Bentley is backing his boys to cause more than a few problems.
He said: “Everyone has us as the favourites to go down every year but we’re never really been in a relegation battle, certainly in the last six years I’ve been manager.
“We’ve upset teams along the way and we’re always called ‘little old Morecambe’ with not much expected of us but we’ve proven time and time again that we can take points off anyone.
“The stats show that over the years.
“Although we’ll be one of the smallest clubs in it and all that, we’ve got enough about us.
“We know the division, we’ve got good players.
“We’ll need a little bit of luck but we all want to do well and that’s what we’re striving to do.”
The Shrimps kick off the new season with a home game against Cheltenham Town on Saturday with Bentley hoping for a good following.
“There have been a lot of encouraging signs over the summer and the club really feels like it is going in the right direction again after difficult times last year.
“We want the fans to be behind us all the way and show their support on Saturday to help us get off to the best possible start.’’