Bristol City captain keen to remain Nigel Pearson’s number one after ‘hating every second’ on the sideline

Bristol City goalkeeper Daniel Bentley has revealed he hated his exclusion from the side but has no bad feelings towards his rival or manager over his lack of first-team opportunities over the last two months.

Club captain Bentley was dropped against Queens Park Rangers in late December for Max O’Leary and has had to settle for a place on the bench, awaiting an opportunity to return to the team.

His dropping from the side coincided with the opening of the January transfer window and some thought that he may have been departing Ashton Gate Stadium but instead it was Pearson believing that O’Leary had deserved a run in the side and for the last nine matches, he has had to watch on from the sidelines.

Bentley made a playing return against Swansea City but shipped two goals after coming on as a substitute, but he was given his first start in seven weeks against Middlesbrough.

Deputising for O’Leary, who had been ruled out through injury, Bentley marked his first start with a winning return as the Robins claimed a 2-1 win to issue the perfect response to the disappointment in South Wales.

The 28-year-old revealed he used the time out of the side to work on himself and has become a better player for it but says that being that first-choice goalkeeper gives him the motivation to hold down a place in the side.

“I’ve hated every second, hated every second,” he admitted to BBC Radio Bristol in the aftermath of the win over Boro.

“I am motivated to play. I thrive off of being in the team with pressure. I want to help the boys. It’s the way I am built. It was difficult to accept and I’ve got maximum respect for Max, absolutely as a person and as a goalkeeper.

“There’s no animosity there and there was no animosity there towards the gaffer either. I used it as an investment in myself. Normally I may not have the time to do some gym work, perhaps that I’ve had the chance to do in the last six weeks.

“Extra stuff I could have done on the training ground in the build-up to games. I’ve used it as an investment into myself and physically and mentally, I am better for it but it’s been difficult for sure.”

Bentley’s goalkeeping rival Max O’Leary isn’t expected to be out for too long and that will create competition between the two shot-stoppers.

The Basildon-born keeper is the club captain at City but despite his status, he doesn’t believe that because he holds the armband he is assured of a place in the team.

He now faces a challenge to remain as City’s first-choice goalkeeper for the remainder of the season and says he won’t become complacent.

“I’ll be doing my utmost and I always will to keep myself in the team,” he said.

“I don’t think because I’ve got the captain’s armband that I’m a given in the team.  The gaffer made reference to it when he took me out of the team.

“I’m under the same rules as everyone else, captain or not. I don’t think at all that the shirt is a given. You have to earn it every single day in training and everyday off the pitch and when you step on the pitch.

“I’m sure Max will be doing his utmost to get it back and that’s healthy competition.”

The defeat to Swansea City was perhaps the tipping point for Nigel Pearson’s side with the head coach visibly and audibly frustrated. Pearson conducted just a four-minute press conference with the written media and maintained the same theme with an interview with the BBC as well as the official club media.

They had let slip of another lead and shipped three goals with two coming in the last quarter of the match, which had become a frustating common theme throughout City’s season. Bentley was quick to agree with Pearson’s post-match comments which continued into last week’s pre-match press conference.

Asked about Pearson’s public burst of frustration and the need for a response, Bentley was in agreement and said: “Rightfully so by the way, rightfully so. We fully knew the Swansea performance, especially the performance wasn’t good enough. We have spoken and addressed and I know the manager has addressed it publicly that we ship too many goals.

“It’s not a secret, we all know that. It’s not down to lack of effort or bad attitude, it’s sometimes down to a little bit of nouse and organisation and on occasion individual mistakes.

“It’s something as a team and it’s definitely from Chrissy (Chris Martin) and Antoine (Antoine Semenyo), all the way through to the team and the defensive minded players including the goalkeeper.

“That was our aim, certainly to be more resilient and solid defensively. We know we’ve got players who can score goals and two of them scored.

Fortunately for City after Andreas Weimann and Antoine Semenyo had given City a two-goal lead, they only conceded once to Matt Crooks.

‘I think we make it difficult for ourselves in the last couple of minutes in games. It should be a 2-0 win,” he said.

“We have to take the positives out of that and the main positive is three points and it makes it all the sweeter on an occasion like today where we are celebrating the football club and the history it contains.”