Strength of character will keep Bury in hunt (From The Bolton News)

Strength of character will keep Bury in hunt

9:20am Thursday 26th November 2009 in

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ALAN Knill believes the strength of character being shown by his players will keep them in the promotion shake-up into the business end of the season.

After a disappointing week when the team crashed out of both the FA Cup and Johnstone's Paint Trophy within days, the team have recovered well and are in the promotion places for the first time this season.

They are unbeaten in 11 League Two games and have come through a run of fixtures against fellow promotion candidates Notts County, Shrewsbury and Chesterfield with their heads held high.

“We have taken five out of nine points against three really good sides,” said Knill. “If people had said we'd take five from those games I would have taken that. I'd have taken three, but a win against Chesterfield is fantastic.

“We started the month poorly with going out of the cups, but we have bounced back brilliantly after that. We have shown character and resilience – all the things we need to last the season really. We just need to keep it going.

“I think the players are getting better too. Against tough opposition I think we played really well. “We are just trying to stretch that unbeaten run as far as we can now.”

One concern for Knill is the loss of defender Ryan Cresswell to injury, with ankle ligament damage likely to rule him out for a few weeks.

Bury, who have a free weekend, visit Morecambe on Tuesday evening and Knill said: “I have a ready made replacement in Ben Futcher, who is proven at this level and we don't have to scramble to get loan players to replace him.

“We are disappointed for Cress, because since he has been in the team he has established himself. I am a big fan of his.

“I like what he has got – he is athletic for his size and has all the tools to have a career at centre-half.

“But that's the way it is in football – when everything is going well, something like this comes along.”

Ryan Lowe should return for the clash with Sammy McIlroy's men but Andy Bishop, Danny Carlton, Damian Allen and Tom Elliott are still weeks away from being ready for first team action.