BURY'S Nicky Hill and Danny Swailes must be scratching their heads and wondering what went wrong.

Last season the two youngsters looked on the verge of cementing a regular place in the first team.

And when Chris Swailes left for Rotherham United during the summer it seemed certain that one of them would get the nod to slot into the back five and partner Steve Redmond and Sam Collins.

Unfortunately what they didn't bank on was a 20-year-old window blind fitter arriving from the North East and overtaking both of them.

But that's just what Michael Nelson has done.

This time last year Nelson was playing in front of 300 people in Bishop Auckland's UniBond League opener at Colwyn Bay. It was an eight-hour round trip and then it was straight back to work the next morning.

How things change. Twelve months on Nelson was an integral part of the Shakers side which travelled to Tranmere and pulled off a superb 2-1 win.

And now he seems certain to be in line for a long run in the first team.

"I'm a little bit surprised that I've gone straight into the team," admitted the centre half. "But feel I did reasonably well in the pre-season friendlies so hopefully I can stay in the side now and keep turning in good performances.

"I'm fitter than I was last year obviously because I'm training every day. We weren't even training when I was playing non-league. We just played two games a week and didn't have time to train with work and stuff.

"But I'm training full time now and hopefully my game and my fitness will improve because of it."

Nelson revealed that the secret behind the win had been the pressure factor.

Because all the critics tip Bury for relegation, says Nelson, the team are playing without the burden of high expectations on them.

"Everyone's writing us off but we don't mind because when that happen it tends to give you a lift," explained Nelson.

"If people expect you to do well it puts pressure on you. When nobody expects anything then you're not under pressure to win. People expect you to get beat.

"It's like at Tranmere. They were under pressure off the home fans to get a result but no one gave us a chance and it helped us."

One man certainly impressed is Nelson's defensive partner Steve Redmond. He said: "He's an old fashioned centre half and he's done very well. He'll keep learning all the time and hopefully he'll progress throughout the season."