SHAKERS boss Graham Barrow could be forgiven for thinking he'd inadvertently run over a whole litter of black cats after the week he's just had writes Phil Thorp

It s one thing losing your leading scorer and centre-half in the space of days, but quite another to possibly see another first teamer go through the door and discover your key midfielder is out for the rest of the season with a serious knee injury.

Oh, and just to top that off the Shakers are away to a team that gave mighty Chelsea a run for their money at Stamford Bridge last Saturday.

It's enough to make a lesser man fall on his sword, but thankfully Barrow is made of sterner stuff.

And it's just as well that he is!

It seemed inevitable that the financial crisis that grips Bury FC was going to spell the end of 19-year-old hotshot Dave Nugent's career at Gigg Lane, but the transfer of influential central defender Danny Swailes came out of the blue.

Swailes is joining MacclesfieldTown.

Out of contract at the end of the season, his departure, for an undisclosed five-figure fee, will leave a gaping hole at the heart of the defence, and with the restrictions the manager is working under it's highly unlikely hed be able to bring in a permanent replacement.

Meanwhile young utility man Colin Kazim-Richards has been at Leicester City all week with a view to a move to the Championship outfit.

His possible move has nothing to do with the club's fiscal troubles, as the young Londoner is thought to be unsettled in the north west and would benefit from a move nearer his capital roots.

Still at Gigg, but likely to be keeping the treatment table warm, will be schemer Terry Dunfield who learned on Monday that he dislocated and broke his kneecap in Saturday's 0-0 draw against Leyton Orient.

Although there is some cartilage damage, fortunately for the Canadian no serious ligament injury showed up on his scan and he is due back in hospital for an arthoscopy.

There has been one silver lining for Barrow this week though. Leeds United's promising young striker Andy Keogh has joined the club, initially on a months loan.

The 18-year-old Dubliner scored in Leeds' reserves 1-1 draw against Sunderland earlier this week and has already spent a period earlier this season with Scunthorpe United.

Given the Shakers are battling for their very survival, it seems churlish to bemoan the fact that a few short weeks ago they were being judged as possible promotion contenders.

Yet only the most indifferent supporter could fail to be disappointed at how the season has imploded.

While the squad is in better shape quality-wise than it was this time last season, when they were just coming out of an eight game losing sequence, there's got to be a serious worry about its depth given recent departures.

And it shouldn't go unnoticed that this time last season York City had taken 39 points from 26 matches and after a disastrous second half of the campaign eventually dropped into the Conference, finishing bottom of the table.

Bury are currently seven points short of York's total from the same number of games, a worrying fact, but despite feeling understandably shell-shocked at current events at the club Barrow believes he still has enough quality at his disposal, if not quantity, to stave off any worries on that score.

"It's up to us all to pull together at this time," he said.

"We don't want to start feeling too sorry for ourselves, our football is a lot better now that it was when we were in trouble twelve months ago.

"Nine of the players who started our first game of the season when we beat Yeovil will be available and we've got Andy Keogh to come in.

"Obviously, I'm concerned about the depth of the squad and like the fans I'm disappointed that Dave (Nugent) and Danny (Swailes) have left.

"It's always difficult to lose players in mid-season, especially when they are as important to the team as they were to us.

"But it will give Jon Newby an opportunity to get a run in the team and we know what he can do.

"The main thing is staying positive and keeping our consistency and if we lose a game we havent to get too down on ourselves.

"A bit of luck wouldn't go amiss either."

Scunthorpe are riding high in second place in the table, three points behind leaders Yeovil Town.

They are likely to be buoyed by their fine performance against Jose Mourinho's megabucks Chelsea side in the FA Cup last weekend.

The Iron had the temerity to go in front through Paul Hayes in the eighth minute, before eventually going down 3-1.

They will be looking to do the double over the Shakers after scraping a 1-0 victory at Gigg Lane back in September, a game that Keogh played in.

"It just shows you how fortunes can change in twelve months," added Barrow.

"They struggled for most of last season but have gone from strength to strength this year.

"To be honest I thought we were on a similar line until recently."

Keogh looks likely to go straight into the team at Glanford Park, probably linking up with Jon Newby should the former Liverpool man shake off a slight knee problem.

That would leave Chris Porter on the bench as Barrow reckons the striker would benefit from a rest.

Kazim-Richards could rejoin the squad after his week with the Foxes if things don't work out for him, although first reports are that he's done well at the Walker Stadium.