BURY’S own fox in the box – Danny Rose – revealed how footage of some of Jermaine Defoe’s best finishes helped him end a near three-month goal drought.

The 21-year-old striker’s ninth goal of the season at Cheltenham on Saturday was his first in 14 matches, ending a barren spell that stretched back to November 22.

When it finally came, his winner at Cheltenham was a scrappy one, with the former Barnsley forward bundling in a driven Danny Nardiello cross with his stomach from close range.

But Rose dedicated the goal to injured strike partner Ryan Lowe’s pre-match pep talk, which inspired him to follow Defoe’s lead and show more willingness to get in where it counts.

“Before the game Lowey has shown me some of Jermaine Defoe goals and all of them have been in the box,” said a relieved Rose after the final whistle at Whaddon Road.

“Luckily, one of them has come in to me today so fair play to Lowey.”

The youngster admits his first full season as a senior professional has been a learning curve, but says advice from the club’s senior strikers Lowe, aged 36, and Nardiello, 32, has played a major role in his development.

It was a wrench for Rose to leave his hometown club in the first place, signing for Bury in August after a summer-long chase from manager David Flitcroft following his successful loan spell at the JD Stadium last season.

He instantly picked up where he left off, scoring in his first four games and five in his first six.

But since then the former Tyke has managed just four in 28 appearances and had lost his starting place before playing 90 minutes on Saturday, with Flitcroft saying he wanted to protect his young goalscorer from burnout.

“The fact is the past two months I have been missing chances,” he said.

“It’s my first full season. I have played a lot of games, more than I ever expected, so tiredness is going to kick in a little bit.

“I have got to get fitter. It’s a men’s league – I am not a little boy any more.

“I have got to get up to that standard.

“The centre-halves are double my size and double my weight so I have got to get fitter and stronger.”

Rose has vowed to hit the weights with renewed vigour in the summer, but before then hopes to help Bury push for promotion by getting back amongst the goals.

Although he admits he has had to temper his early-season optimism a little when it comes to his own personal ambitions.

“My goal target was 20 in November, but it has kind of shrunk a bit now,” he said. “My first target now is to scrape over 10.

“I was over the moon to score on Saturday.

“It was a horrible goal, I think it has hit me in my stomach, but as long as it went over the line I didn’t care, I was just so happy.

“You start thinking is it ever going to come?

“You have just got to work hard, keep putting the ball in the back of the net in training and hopefully it will come in the matches, and thankfully it did.”