TAKING 2,300 supporters to Tranmere on the final day is a fantastic effort and I am just praying they all go home happy.

I would like to say the experience David Flitcroft and a number of his players have of final day battles will serve them well, but I am afraid what has gone before will have no bearing on the outcome at Prenton Park.

This is one of those occasions in football that there is nothing you can do to prepare for, especially when you are depending on results elsewhere to go your way.

But that is the beauty of Bury’s situation.

In a way it is win-win. All they can do is go to Tranmere, get a result and hope.

If Southend stay true to form then the Shakers will move on to the play-offs and another bite at the promotion cherry.

Flitcroft has already gone on record that he has been preparing for that eventuality for a number of weeks now.

So while missing out on the top three would be a blow, it is something the players and management will have already got their head around.

Southend, on the other hand, have it all to lose. You would rather be in their position, but they will be the ones under pressure on Saturday, not Bury.

The only thing I can say with any great confidence is that you can expect the unexpected. Football very rarely goes to plan and there is always a late twist.

Flitcroft kept Barnsley up against the odds, while Tom Soares experienced the opposite emotion.

His Crystal Palace side were relegated from the Premier League in 2005, his first season as a pro, after conceding with eight minutes to play.

For me, the heartbreak came even later, as my Sheffield United team conceded against Chelsea with only 30 seconds remaining to be relegated from the top tier in 1994.

Whatever happens, it is sure to be emotional.

Nerves will be just as raw at Prenton Park as they will be at the Southend and Wycombe matches.

Results elsewhere will go round the terraces like Chinese whispers and that will all be transmitted on to the pitch.

How the players and managers handle that will determine the outcome, but it doesn’t matter how many times you have experienced a final-day decider, there is no cast-iron guarantee how you will react.

I firmly believe though that Bury have what it takes to get the result they need, and then whatever will be, will be.

The 10-coaches packed with Shakers supporters will either leave Prenton Park looking forward to League One football or dreaming of a trip to Wembley, and whichever way you look at it that can’t be bad.