GILLINGHAM’S odd job man Mark Bentley came to the rescue again by plugging the gap in defence at Bournemouth.

Bentley filled in at centre back following injuries to a trio of regular defenders and although not happy with the defeat he was glad to see the team showing a stronger resolve.

Bentley said: “A couple of months ago, before the new gaffer came in, we were getting rolled over by four or five goals, which isn’t happening anymore.

“We don’t want that anymore. The new lads that have come in have come from good Conference clubs and played at good levels.

“They’ve settled in quickly and are doing well for us and the gaffer will probably look to add again in January.

“We’ve got a big squad and the squad are together. We’ve got a good team spirit, it’s getting there, especially with seven new lads coming in. They’re all hard workers and if we can just add that extra bit of quality to our game there’s no reason why we can’t go up the league.”

Bentley, who is a regular in midfield, has filled in up-front, in defence and was even ready to take the keeper’s jersey off Kelvin Jack after he suffered a knock last season.

“I think I was the second goalkeeper last year,” he joked. “Fortunately I can play in different positions and it’s nice to have that in your locker. I just want to play football and it’s better than sitting on the bench or being out of the squad.

“I felt quite comfortable in defence and I didn’t have a problem playing there. I worked on it during the week in training and I’ve just done one for the team.”

Bentley is now hoping these last two defeats can quickly be forgotten about.

He said: “Last week we beat Crewe and we’re looking up and thinking can we crack the top ten but unfortunately now we’re looking the other way. Teams from the bottom have now closed up on us and we’ve got to look over out shoulders and we now need some results. We’ll have to get our heads up, work hard and hopefully get some results.”