Gillingham club captain Mark Bentley is hoping to exorcise some demons of the past at Grimsby on Saturday.

Bentley has bitter memories of his last trip to Grimsby’s Blundell Park as a draw on the last day of the 2004/05 season cost his previous side Southend automatic promotion from League 2.

“That was horrible feeling,” said the 31-year-old. “It’s going to be another tight one as they are fighting for their lives but if we approach the game the same as we did on Tuesday then there is no reason why we can’t get a result.

“They are fighting for their lives and could be facing Conference football next year so we know what to expect.

“It’s going to be another fight like most of the games are in this league and we are going to be up for the challenge.”

Despite the set-back on his last visit, Bentley still tasted promotion that season, after beating Lincoln 2-0 in the play-off final. Now the midfielder turned defender is hoping for another crack at promotion.

He said: “If you haven’t tasted promotion you don’t know what you’re missing. It’s a great feeling.

“We’re going to enjoy where we are at the moment and push on for the rest of the season.

“The teams below us have now got to perform and they are going to be under pressure.

“We’ve got more away games to play but at the minute our away form is better than our home form so we can go to Grimsby full of confidence.”