Bury St Edmunds are relishing what promises to be their biggest test of the season, when they welcome National League Two South leaders Rams to The Haberden this afternoon (3pm).

Nick Wakley’s Bury side have enjoyed a productive last few weeks, progressing up to sixth in the table following a run of just one defeat in six matches.

The Wolfpack let slip an almost certain victory last weekend, when conceding two late tries to be pegged back to a 24-24 draw away at Barnes, but they will be looking to cast aside that disappointment with a rip-roaring display against the runaway leaders today, in front of what should be a big crowd.

“It’s a big game and a good test for us. We want to pit ourselves against the best, 100%, that’s what we want to do,” enthused Wakley.

“Rams are going to win the league, and win promotion, barring a miracle, very comfortably, so this match will be a good gauge of how far we have come over the last eight weeks.

“The boys know that once again it’s a performance that I am chasing. We want to cause Rams some problems, and the whole place is buzzing. It’s an exciting prospect.

“Rams have won 17 of their 18 games, and have picked up 16 bonus points in the process. They are a very well-oiled machine, who are focused on the set piece, and they have an unbelievable penalties count at scrum-time.

“So we will have to be at the top of our game to compete with them, especially in the scrum, although we have the boost of Patrick Robinson coming back into the front row for us.

“Last weekend was a wasted opportunity for us, and it has taken a few days to come down off the ceiling from that one. There were some questionable decisions leading up to their (Barnes’) final try, but we should have put the game to bed long before then.

“If we want to be promotion contenders in the future, then we need to learn how to put those sort of teams away,” added Wakley.

Will Affleck will play fly-half today, with Jack Johnson at full-back, because Cam Ritchie has returned to South Africa for a couple of weeks.

BURY: Robinson, Torpey, Cooper, Uru, Scholes, Grey, Walker, Browne. Limlei, Affleck, Bodkin, Leng, Kohler, Sharp, Johnson. Replacements: Johnson, Francombe, Graham, Hill, Harvey, Wiltshire, O’Reilly,