Dave McNabb has challenged his Bury side to learn from their setbacks as they aim to go all the way in the play-offs.

The Shakers welcome Charnock Richard to Gigg Lane on Tuesday night (7.45pm) and a bumper crowd is expected.

McNabb’s men finished within three points of champions Wythenshawe but must now be prepared for a tough test against opponents who defied the odds to achieve a top-five finish.

The Villagers racked up victories against Irlam, Barnoldswick, Colne and Pilkington in a six-day period after postponements played havoc with their fixture list.

“It is a huge honour to be able to lead Bury,” said McNabb. “Coming in part way through the season, it is always difficult – a slightly different style of play and the turnover of players is always really hard.

“There have been a few things that have affected us externally that made things a little bit more challenging for us.

“I am proud of where the players have got to - and disappointed because we almost got it back into our own hands on two separate occasions and let it slip through our fingers.

“I take accountability for those slip-ups and the most important thing is that we learn from them.

“Ultimately, as a group we need to go and try to make the fans proud and get the club back where it belongs.”

Earlier this month, the club announced it had signed a contract to install a 3G pitch at Gigg Lane this summer.

The Shakers have had to deal with a number of postponements since the start of the campaign due to the torrid weather conditions at times.

“It is a monumental step forward for the football club as a whole,” McNabb added. “It gives us a lot of certainty around fixtures and that helps the fans - a lot of them travel from different parts of the country or have work commitments.

“It gives us a base for training so we have full access to the pitch and allows us to do all the added things we want to around analysis, video work, physio and coaching on a full scale pitch.

“Then in terms of the quality of the surface, it allows us to make sure we can play the style and brand of football that we want to implement, which has obviously been difficult at the back end of the season with the quality of surfaces we have had to play on.”