BURY could be down to the bare bones for Saturday's eagerly-awaited derby clash against Rochdale at Gigg Lane (3pm).

A flu bug has decimated the squad this week with no fewer than six players suffering.

Add to those half dozen the injured duo of Harpal Singh and Simon Whaley and Glenn Whelan not yet back from international duty with the Republic of Ireland's youth team and the more active among the Shakers faithful might be advised to take their boots along!

"It's a real problem," explained player-boss Andy Preece.

"David Nugent, George Clegg, Lee Duxbury, Colin Woodthorpe, Tom Kennedy and now Justin Thompson are all down with it.

"And as it stands now they are all extremely doubtful for the game.

"Influenza knocks you about and it will be close to a week before they are feeling anywhere near as they should be.

"With the other players missing we look like being down to 13 fit players so we'll have to leave it as late as possible before we make a decision on selection."

The big problem for Preece is that the whole of his side's current left flank - Woodthorpe, Kennedy and Clegg - has been wiped out by the malaise.

So there is going to have to be some wholesale changes from the side that lost to Scunthorpe United in the LDV Vans Trophy on Tuesday evening.

There's also a small matter of settling the score after Dale knocked the Shakers out of the FA Cup at Gigg Lane last month.

That win came slap-bang in the middle of the Spotland side's worst losing run since the 1977-78 campaign and they have now lost seven league matches on the bounce.

Their last victory was a 2-0 success at Cheltenham Town on October 18 and they will hoping to extend an impressive run at Gigg Lane which has seen them unbeaten for 20 years.

But that will mean nothing at 3pm with both teams desperate for points for opposing reasons.

"It's a massive game for both sides," added Preece.

"We want to get back into the pack chasing the play-off places while Rochdale will be keen to pull away from the bottom of the table.

"A win for us could see us back into the top ten and we are due a good performance after the last three games.

"But one thing's for certain I've told the players that it doesn't matter if none are fit, or they all are, there are no ready-made excuses.

"They can get that out of their heads now. Whichever eleven take to the field against Rochdale should be capable of winning."

Under-fire Dale boss Alan Buckley has strikers Lee McEvilly and Rory Patterson suspended, as is midfielder Sean McClare.

On the plus side goalkeeper Neil Edwards, midfielder Pat McCourt and centre-back Gareth Griffiths are all returning from injury while Leo Bertos - who scored in the FA Cup defeat - back after suspension.