IT is hard to take any positives from Tuesday night’s defeat at Cambridge.

The only possible silver lining to that dark cloud could be that the squad now has more than a week to regroup, recuperate and prepare for what is a vital match at home to fellow strugglers Northampton Town.

I can tell you, though, no-one at the club will be thinking that – not the players, not the management and certainly not the chairman.

Being knocked out in the first round of the FA Cup by a non-league club, albeit the Conference leaders, would be a hammer blow at the best of times.

But to miss out on a glamour tie in front of the TV cameras against a team like Sheffield United is incredibly disappointing, both in a sporting and financial sense.

It is true that some of the players have been struggling through illness and injury, but the management will be more worried about their injured pride and the effect this defeat will have on their fragile confidence.

They would have all really wanted to play Sheffield United, test themselves against Nigel Clough’s players and see how far they could go in the cup.

Ronnie Jepson and his team will now face a difficult week or so trying to pick them up and lift the mood around the camp, which I am sure will be very downbeat.

But it is very important that they do that and try to put the cup disappointment behind them quickly.

If they had won on Tuesday, and managed to back that up with a good result against the Blades at the weekend then confidence would have been sky high going into the festive period.

As it is, it will probably feel like a backwards step after some pretty decent performances of late.

Bury went into the trip to Cambridge on the back of a first win at home since August and, by all accounts, another promising display at Exeter.

What the players have to do now is focus on that, dig in and come out fighting because as far as I am concerned their season starts now.

Games over Christmas come thick and fast and I think the results the Shakers get in these will shape the rest of their season.

They have Danny Nardiello to return, who was unavailable to play in the FA Cup. His goals should provide them with a decent platform for success, but what they also have to do is find a way to change their draws into wins.

In a way it is almost better winning one and losing one, rather than getting into the habit of drawing too many games.

If they can crack that problem, then hopefully the cup defeat will be long forgotten by the New Year.