AFC Fylde agree loan extension for Bradford City goalkeeper

Hornby joined the Coasters in October and has made 13 appearances, keeping five clean sheets.

Rectifying defensive issues has been high on Jim Bentley’s priorities and it has shown in the high number of clean sheets his side have kept since the 43-year old’s arrival from League Two Morecambe.

The on-loan Bantam will now be at Mill Farm until the end of the campaign, this coming fresh off the back of his heroics at Sheffield United in the FA Cup, where he made numerous saves.

Speaking to the press at Bramall Lane, Bentley felt his side could take lots of positives away from their showing in Yorkshire, as attention turns to this weekend’s FA Trophy game against Stockport County.

“We can take a lot of positives from today, we’ve got real good moments in the games so far,” he said.

“We’re just coming a little bit short, one of those moments is just putting the ball in the back of the net or a little bit of luck, whatever that may be.

“We could have got our league programme in a better place than we have in this moment.

“To come away to a Premier League football club, a good Premier League football club that’s in good form, and give an account of ourselves like we have done today, we’ve got to take the positives and take that into the FA Trophy next week and into our league programme moving forward.”

Despite conversations about sides disrespecting the FA Cup and it not being high enough on clubs’ priorities, Bentley thinks very highly of the contest, growing up watching on Merseyside and dreaming of success in the cup.

“It’s massive, it goes with the FA Cup and the glamour of it all.

“With the social media and the TV it think it comes along a little better, it’s had a dip and it’s coming through that.

“But the Premier League is so great and the teams are so big that teams are hell-bent on staying in it or getting into Europe.

“But for myself, as a manager, I was a lower league player, I was brought up on the 80s when Merseyside was winning the FA Cup year on year.

“I was brought up on it.

“It was always a big occasion in our house and when I was growing up.

“You always wanted to be the one in the parks who scored the winning goal in an FA Cup final.

“My feelings for the FA Cup are no different now that I’m a lot older."