Southend United v Gillingham

MARK BENTLEY admits he owes Southend a lot but he won't be doing them any favours on Saturday.

Steve Tilson made Bentley his first signing after taking charge at Southend, and with it came the break the midfielder always dreamed of.

Before Bentley joined Southend, he was plying his trade in the non-league game.

Bentley said: "He gave me the opportunity. I owe him a lot really because if he hadn’t given me the chance I could still be playing non-league football.

"As soon as the fixtures came out, the game against Southend was first thing I was interested in checking out.

"It's my old club and I'm looking forward to going back. It would be great to score against my old club and to get a positive result there would be nice."

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