CANVEY Island manager Mark Bentley believes Mitch Gilbey’s made the wrong decision in moving to Tilbury.

The influential midfielder, 24, exited the Gulls last week and headed to Chadfields to link up with close friend and former colleague Joe Keith.

The switch came as a surprise to many, with Bentley looking to make Gilbey an important part of his team having taken over from Danny Heale at the start of the month.

And Bentley could not hide his disappointment following Gilbey’s departure.

“I was disappointed to lose Mitch,” said Bentley. “I had a really good chat with him last Thursday before training and I left feeling positive that he would stay. But he made the decision to leave the next day.

“That is his choice and I have to accept it. I don’t agree with it but I understand he has connections at Tilbury and we move on.

“Mitch was a good player but my task is to source some other good players that can come in.

“We are trying to get those that suit our style and we will certainly not panic buy.

“The problem with good players is they come at a price so we will wait and see.

“But we will get the right players. The hard work starts now.”

And Keith, who left his post as Canvey assistant manager to join Tilbury almost 12 months ago, admits the move would probably not have happened if Danny Heale had still been Canvey manager.

“It is a coup signing and we are proud of it as a club,” said the Dockers boss. “It may surprise a few people but this club wants to go places. It is progressive and they want to do things the right way. The board has done a lot to help me and now I need to deliver on the pitch as well.

“I am close with Gilbs and his brother Reiss is a good friend as well.

“Once Danny stepped down I felt it was time to approach Gilbs so I put a seven-day approach in, which I probably wouldn’t have done if Danny was there because of our friendship.

“It was an opportunist move.”