Morecambe midfielder Alex Kenyon has told the bookmakers that his side will continue to prove them wrong, after the club extended their stay in the EFL for another year, following their 18th place finish last season.

The Shrimps only secured their Football League survival on the final day of the 2017/18 season, and started the latest campaign as favourites to drop into the non-league system.

But after losing seven of their opening eight games, Jim Bentley’s side rallied to eventually finish a relatively comfortable 13 points clear of the drop zone and secure a thirteenth straight season in the Football League next year.

Speaking exclusively to Football League World about what it is like to start the campaign as favourites to be relegated, Kenyon said:

“Every season I’ve been at the club we’ve been favourites to go down.

“I’m sure these bookmakers need to realise by now that we will keep proving them wrong.

“With what happened last season with staying up on the last day I can understand why we were down there but again we have proved them wrong and it’s a great feeling for everyone involved with the club.”

Being favourites for the drop is something the Lancashire side have evidently got used to, and Kenyon revealed one tactic manager Jim Bentley has used to help cope with that expectation:

“A few seasons ago the gaffer got a news paper article laminated and stuck on the wall for just as we were walking out the changing room on match day and used to point at it and say go prove them wrong again!”

The Shrimps have certainly become adept at doing that, and after that shaky start, the mid-season recruitment of the likes of Richie Bennett on loan from Carlisle, and former Wolves youngster Aaron Collins on a short term contract saw Morecambe end the season as one of the division’s form teams.

With seven wins and just four defeats from their final 15 games, Kenyon believes that keeping the side that ended the season together could lead to big things for the club, although he is under no illusions as to the difficulty of that, adding:

“The squad that finished the season was in excellent spirits and would be amazing to keep them all together but unfortunately this is football, players will move on and other players will have to come in.

“If there was a way we could keep the whole squad together for next season I think we would be right up there hopefully pushing play offs.

“This is where being a smaller club in League 2 doesn’t help as the so called bigger teams with bigger budgets try and take the players away which is tough for us.

“But it’s positive that in the last few weeks the club have announced the re-signing of A-Jay (Leitch-Smith), Flemo (Andrew Fleming) and Jordan Cranston.”

Another player whose future at the club has yet to be decided is Kenyon himself, but although his contract is set to expire in the coming weeks, the midfielder admitted he would like to make a return to The Globe Arena next season, concluding:

“I would like to be there next season, I’ve had 6 seasons at the club now and I see it as home.

"I’ve had a few chats with the manager over the off season so far and I’m sure there will be more between now and the start of the season however we will just have to wait and see where I am next season.”