ANDY Preece has welcomed a week without night matches as he bids to eradicate an alarming bout of fatigue in the Shakers camp writes Chris Hall

Bury have emerged from a hectic start to the campaign on a level footing with the teams occupying the play-off berths, not to mention a dream Worthington Cup second round tie against neighbours Bolton Wanderers.

But playing, on average, a game every four days has taken its toll on the players, who are frequently complaining of tiredness.

Now the fixture backlog is set to ease over the coming weeks and Preece, recently forced to employ a rolling squad system of team selection to stave off extra injuries, is determined to spend the extra time addressing the fitness problem.

"They do tend to throw a lot of games at the lower division clubs at the start of the season so it's great to have a bit of a rest," he said.

"We've played quite a few midweek games already but now we get a bit of a break. Other than the cup match against Bolton we've got three or four weeks without a midweek match.

"That's good news because it means I'll be able to get people rested. That's why the team is being changed around quite a bit. I'm trying to keep players fresh and, apart form the front two, no-one is playing well enough to say 'don't you dare take me out of the side.'

"They are all moaning that they are tired and that backs up my theory. We have to get them fresh and then keep them fresh from week to week."

But Preece was quick to dismiss the excuse that his young squad is finding the Third Division too physically demanding.

Instead he says his charges must toughen up, both mentally and physically, if they are going to stop throwing away leads in crucial games as they did in last week's 1-1 draw against league leaders Hartlepool.

"There's no point complaining about not being strong enough. They have got to learn to be strong and learn that side of the game," he said.

"We aren't far away. We are level with the play-off places and only six points off the top, so we are doing okay. We have 15 points from our first ten matches.

"At that rate, we will finish on 69 or 70 points and we just need that little bit extra to make the play-offs."