BURY'S old guard are determined to spread the Shakers' notorious never-say-die spirit to Gigg Lane's new boys, writes NEIL BONNAR.

With no money to spend, Bury's greatest weapon in their battle to survive in the First Division is their famous determination to overcome the odds.

A run of seven games without victory has seen the early season high expectations evaporate with Neil Warnock's men plunging down the league and suffering an embarrassing 3-0 FA Cup exit at home to Stockport.

The tension has spread to some of the new recruits but the experienced men have seen it all before and know what it takes to come through the dark times.

"We have been going through a difficult period after a great start," reflected skipper Chris Lucketti. "But we have been telling the new players that we are still in a better position than we were this time last season."

Three disappointing league defeats on the bounce followed by a first half horror show in the FA Cup sparked a system change from 5-2-3 to 4-4-2. And the switch heralded an immediate improvement in fortunes.

Impressive performances at Huddersfield and QPR brought draws and took the Shakers into their fortnight break ahead of today's visit to Swindon Town with renewed confidence.

"The mood in the camp is good," added Lucketti. "Everyone is a lot happier after the last two performances but even when the results were not going for us we always believed we would turn things around.

"We still believe in ourselves and we believe that we can get into a position of respectability."

The change to 4-4-2 has seen the end of the sweeper system with which Bury enjoyed their wall-to-wall success of two successive promotions and a season of stability in the First Division. But it has been a hit with the fans and the players who are encouraged to play a more fluent passing game.

It has meant a lot of work on the training ground to get the players accustomed to their new roles.

"Things have gone well so far with the new system," enthused the Gigg Lane skipper. "It gives us something more going forward with Dean West and Chris Billy the wide men who get us crosses in.

"There is a difference playing with four at the back instead of five and we have been working hard at it every day.

"From my point of view when we played with a sweeper I was one of two markers who had to follow their centre forwards everywhere whereas now the centre halves cannot leave their positions.

"When the results before Christmas went against us everybody was getting down and fearing the worst but since we changed the system we have put in two and a half good performances and the atmosphere is a lot better."

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