MARK Bentley insists Canvey Island need to start climbing the Isthmian North standings after seeing their FA Trophy run ended at the weekend.

The Gulls suffered a 2-1 defeat to Isthmian Premier League side Haringey Borough in the second qualifying round and will now turn their attentions towards facing Brentwood Town at Park Lane tonight.

And Bentley is keen to get some points on the board.

“We set a standard in terms of how we played on Saturday,” said the Canvey boss.

“There is still work to do in the final third and we need to improve in that department.

“I’m still trying to find the right players to come in and join us, but it is getting frustrating in that respect.

“Brentwood will represent a difficult challenge for us but it’s an opportunity to get some points on the board.

“We are 15th in the league but if we win our games in hand we will be in a good position.

“Having now gone out of the FA Cup and FA Trophy after good runs in both competitions, we have got to focus on going up the league table.”

Canvey will go into their contest with Brentwood having been knocked out of the FA Trophy by Haringey.

Anthos Solomou broke the deadlock for Haringey three minutes before the interval.

Dimitri Froxylias doubled the hosts’ advantage on the hour mark.

Although substitute Kane Gilbert halved the deficit, there was no way back for the Gulls.

But Bentley was keen to remain positive after the defeat.

“Although I was disappointed with the result, I came away really pleased,” added Bentley.

“The players’ effort and shape was good.

“Our first half performance showed me something I haven’t seen in a few weeks because the players were patient in the press and we were difficult to break down.

“The effort in the second half was really good and we rallied in the final 20 minutes.

“After Kane Gilbert scored, we had them on the back foot and then there was some gamesmanship from their point of view.

I was quite positive after the game because of how the players applied themselves.”