Southend United: Daniel Bentley equals clean sheets record
Last updated on .From the section Southend
Southend goalkeeper Daniel Bentley has hailed his teammates after becoming the second player in the club's history to keep 10 straight home clean sheets.
The 21-year-old equalled Mervyn Cawston's record, set in 1981, during the Shrimpers 1-0 victory against Tranmere on Saturday.
"It was a fantastic achievement for not only myself but for the club and the team," he told BBC Radio Essex.
"I believe it was an achievement for everybody involved not just myself."
Bentley, who missed five games with a groin injury in February and March, has made 39 appearances in all competitions this season.
He added: "I do not think it has really hit home yet. It was not something that I went out to achieve or thought about.
"It was not a target I set out to achieve it was just something that happens and you have to earn your bit of luck along the way and rely on the lads in front of you. I am just there to do a job."
| Bentley's impressive record | |
|---|---|
| 15 November: Southend 1-0 Hartlepool | 29 November: Southend 2-0 Northampton |
| 19 December: Southend 0-0 Burton | 28 December: Southend 0-0 Dagenham |
| 10 January: Southend 0-0 Plymouth | 31 January: Southend 1-0 York |
| 10 February: Southend 2-0 Cheltenham | 21 March: Southend 0-0 Cambridge United |
| 03 April: Southend 2-0 Mansfield | 11 April: Southend 1-0 Tranmere |
Southend currently sit in the League Two play-off places in fifth and are five points behind third-placed Wycombe - with a game in hand.
And Bentley, who graduated through the Shrimpers' youth system, said his focus was to earn promotion for the side rather than on personal accolades.
"I am not going out to break the clean sheet record," he added. "I am going out to get a clean sheet and pick up the three points and that is the most important thing.
"For me the bread and butter of it is not the statistics or celebrating the record but going out and getting the points.
"One of my aims this season was to help get this club promoted back into a league where it deserves to be. I do not believe this club deserves to be in League Two."
