Bury Town boss Ben Chenery has urged his players “to be bold” ahead of tomorrow afternoon’s mouth-watering West Suffolk derby against AFC Sudbury at Ram Meadow (kick-off 1pm).

Both clubs are bang in form, and within striking distance of the Bostik North play-off zone after an excellent last few weeks.

The Blues are in sixth spot, although they are six points behind fifth-placed Heybridge Swifts in the last play-off berth, on the back of an unbeaten run stretching to five games.

Sudbury are going even better, and have moved up to within one point of rivals Bury in seventh, thanks to a run of five wins from their last seven games.

Mark Morsley’s men have won their last three on the bounce, at Soham Town Rangers (2-0) and at home to bottom club Dereham (8-2) and Mildenhall (3-1), and have plundered 22 goals in their last seven fixtures.

“It’s two teams in form, and it’s a local derby, so it all bodes well,” insisted Bury boss Chenery.

“I am expecting a good game of football between two teams both trying to win the game, to get closer to the play-offs.

“We are well positioned. Having brought seven or eight new players in (last summer), I knew it would take us time, but we have overcome that now.

“We knew that we needed a good December, to set us up for some difficult fixtures in January and February. And that’s what we done, although we could have picked up a couple more points along the way.

“Now we are looking to start the new year with a bang.

“Sudbury have been going well themselves, and are scoring lots of goals, so we know the set of problems that they will pose for us.

“They are free-scoring. They had an indifferent start to the season, but I knew that they had a squad that would get them up there. They have clicked into gear now.

“I think we must be bold, ourselves, being the home team, and stamp our authority on the match.

“It’s a big game, a Suffolk derby, with both teams in play-off contention,” added Chenery, who has a fully fit squad at his disposal.

Bury recorded a 3-0 win on the road, at Soham, on their last outing on Boxing Day.