BURY coach Chris Brass acknowledged there is still work to be done as the Shakers continue to search for a first victory of pre-season.

The drew 1-1 at home to League Two Crewe on Saturday, following up defeats against Championship side Sunderland, Premier League new boys Huddersfield and National League Macclesfield.

Brad Walker’s deft header gave the Railwaymen an 11th minute lead in a first half they controlled.

It took until the 68th minute for Crewe keeper Ben Garratt to be tested – doing well to hold on to a Nicky Ajose effort in what was the returning striker's third Gigg Lane debut for Bury.

Jermaine Beckford rescued a draw four minutes from time when he nodded in an equaliser, meeting Zeli Ismail’s pin-point cross.

Despite being held by lower-league opposition, Brass prefers deficiencies in the squad to be highlighted now, so they have time to work on them in training before the season kicks off on August 5.

“The good thing is you have seen some things we need to work on and some things that just need tweaking.

“We are where we expected to be at this time in pre-season. We wouldn’t have got carried away if we had come here and won 6-0. We wouldn’t have got too disheartened if it was a 6-0 defeat.

“The good thing is there was a little bit of an impetus at half time, we kept on going and got something out of the game, if you look at it that way.

“There has been a huge turnover of players. We are just getting an understanding of who does this and who does that, where they want the ball, whether it’s in front or behind.”

Manager Lee Clark experimented with three different formations, starting new signing Chris Maguire on the right of an attacking midfield three in a 4-2-3-1 shape.

However, it was not until Maguire was replaced by academy graduate Tsun Dai at half time and winger Zeli Ismail was introduced midway through the second half that Bury started to glimpses of their quality.

“It was another welcome addition this week of Chris Maguire,” Brass added. “He hadn’t done the hard miles in pre-season with us but he got a good 45 minutes under his belt and you could see the quality he possessed.

“Tsun impressed us last year and that’s why we offered him a pro contract. He goes from strength to strength and will continue to do so.

“It’s not just options we have on the bench, it’s good options. Nathan (Cameron) came on and gave a great performance, and we started to see how Tom Aldred likes to defend. There are a lot of good defenders at the club."

In the absence of goalkeeper Joe Murphy, who was suffering with a bug, trialist shot stopper Dean Lyness, formerly of Burton and Blackpool, lent a hand between the sticks.

And while the Shakers wait on the availability of Newcastle’s England Under-20s stopper Freddie Woodman, who is their number one target as a back-up to Murphy, the management team will run the rule over Lyness.

Brass said: “Thankfully he (Lyness) is in. Joe was a little bit ill so he missed the game. It shouldn’t be anything more than a 24 or 48-hour bug.

“People know we are in the market, we need competition in that area.”

Team

Bury (4-2-3-1): Lyness; Jones (Cooney 71), Aldred, O’Connell (Cameron 23), Leigh; Dawson, Reilly; Maguire (Dai 45), Ajose, O’Shea (Ismail 71); Beckford.

Referee: Graham Salisbury (Lancashire),

Attendance: 1,105 (139 visiting).