Bury St Edmunds head coach, Ollie Smith, wants his players to put “smiles on the faces of Bury supporters” during tomorrow’s home match against bottom club Old Redcliffians (kick-off 3pm).

A new-look Bury side kicked off their National League Two South season with a disappointing 50-17 home defeat, at the hands of Tonbridge Juddians a fortnight ago.

But they responded to this setback in impressive fashion last weekend, with a hard-fought 20-16 win at another of the division’s newly-promoted clubs, Coventry-based Broadstreet.

Now Smith wants his team to carry on that away performance into tomorrow afternoon’s showdown at The Haberden.

“I said that the first game was a wake-up call for all of us, and I got the response that I wanted,” enthused Smith.

“That first game really hit home to us, about where we were, and we responded well with a good away victory against a side who, although they are new to the division, will be very competitive in this league, especially at home.

“The most pleasing thing was the way that we started. To be honest, the way we started surprised me a little, after my judgement of them the previous weekend! We played some controlled rugby at times, and although we lost our way a bit after half-time, I still think we fully deserved the win. We showed good character,” added Smith.

Bury raced into a 20-3 lead at half-time against Broadstreet, before the hosts rallied strongly to move to within a four-point margin by the final whistle.

Now Smith is looking for a good showing against an Old Redcliffians side who have suffered two heavy defeats in their first two matches, losing 58-10 at Redruth and then 48-10 at home to Taunton Titans last weekend.

“We’ve got to grow as a team on the pitch,” explained Smith.

“We’ve got to understand the tactical side, but also work on the mental side of the game.

“I want us to go out and put smiles on the faces of Bury supporters, because we let a lot of people down in that first week.

“It was the manner of that defeat that hurt most. We want to get it right this weekend.”

BURY: Smith, Bixby, Brown, Scholes, Stanley, Uru, Stapleton, Browne. Navas, McBride, Corcoran, Rouse, Kohler, Snelling, Lord. Replacements: Coutts, Edison, Meyers, Harrison, Honey.