SEASON’S cheer was a bit thin on the ground at the JD Stadium after Bury blew a two-goal lead at home to York.

They looked odds on to end what is now a nine-game wait for a victory. And let’s be honest, a squad of players with their talent and ability should not be dropping points at home from that position.

The manager was understandably deflated in his post-match press conference, but this is not a time to dwell on the negatives.

Saturday’s result may have felt like a defeat, but it wasn’t.

The draw took Bury one point closer to the play-off places and stopped a recent run of defeats on home turf.

And that could be the biggest positive of all.

Every team will have a dip in form and results over the course of a season. It is a lot better to have it now than in March or April.

If David Flitcroft’s side can build on Saturday’s point to earn two good results over Christmas, they could easily kick on from there.

It is not as if they are cut adrift of the promotion race.

Yes they have had a bad run, but Saturday could have been the end of it.

That is the view the players have to take into training this week – don’t dwell too much on the mistakes that led to York’s two goals, focus on the positives that saw Bury take a two-goal lead.

Of course, Flitcroft and his management team must put right the problems in defence, but my hope is that they are not tempted to continue ringing the changes.

The Shakers have not had a settled defence all season, and that has to have played a major factor in their recent run.

One calamitous season in my career stands out to me, when I was in the Scarborough side that dropped out of the league.

During that campaign we used 12 defenders and five goalkeepers. Every time we had a bad result the manager looked to make a change and there was never any continuity.

A solid defence has to be built on solid relationships. You can tinker with the attack and midfield to affect results, but change is often damaging to the defence.

Injuries to defenders Pablo Mills and Keil O’Brien could actually end up being a positive here as I think you can sometimes have too many options.

For what it is worth, I would like to see Bury go into the next few games with a flat back four, just as they did in the second half against York, stick with a settled side and I think the tide will soon turn for them.

Merry Christmas and “Up the Shakers”.