Bury boss David Flitcroft believes that reaching the third round of the FA Cup for the first time since 2008 is a mark of the progress the club is making.
The Shakers face a home tie with fellow League One side Bradford City, who reached the quarter finals last year and stunned Premier League champions Chelsea 4-2 at Stamford Bridge.
Flitcroft said the clash against the Bantams, who ended Bury’s streak of 17 unbeaten away games back in October, demonstrates how the club has improved under his tenure.
“While we’ve been at the club we’ve had high success and real progression,” he said.
“Progress comes from improvement, working hard and never giving in. Progress comes from fighting every day to get better.
“But people will get side tracked and fall off the plan, people fall out of love with Bury football club and fall out of love with the football plan.”
Flitcroft will be looking for some home comforts as his side play at Gigg Lane for the first time since mid-December.
The Shakers are enduring a spell of indifferent league form with just one win in six, and have lost their last seven away games in the league, a run that started with the previous meeting with Bradford.
But the manager reflected that periods of difficulty reveal more about the character of the dressing room.
“When you get beat you find out who your friends are, who your enemies are, who doesn’t want to dig in and who doesn’t want to fight,” he said.
“You find out so much more about your players your staff and everyone associated with the club when you’re losing games.
“We’ve certainly regrouped from the top down and we just have to make sure that we keep working hard and stick to a plan that we’ve set out for success.”
Image courtesy of Bury FR, via Youtube, with thanks
