 He was given shirt number 20 and made his debut as a substitute against Barnet, and had his first career start came against Carlisle United in the Football League Trophy.On 4 October 2011, Bender was involved in a three-way collision in a match in the 39th minute between Ian Dunbavin of Accrington Stanley and Lucas Akins of Tranmere Rovers in a Football League Trophy match between the two teams.The match was subsequently abandoned because of the seriousness of the injury.