Bury Town manager, Ben Chenery, does not want his team to “slack off” during the last few weeks of the season.

The Blues have slipped out of Bostik North play-off contention, with the top five all showing consistent form, spearheaded by runaway league leaders Bowers & Pitsea, who are the visitors to Ram Meadow this afternoon.

“We will be looking to finish higher than we did last season,” insisted Chenery, whose Blues side finished ninth in 2017-18.

“We have managed to progress every season, and we want that to continue, as a legs up for next season.

“I don’t want the players to down tools, or to switch off. I am not that sort of manager,” added Chenery.

“Bury have taken just two points from their last three games, following away draws at West Suffolk rivals Mildenhall Town (0-0) and promotion-chasing Aveley (2-2), and last weekend’s 2-1 defeat at Coggeshall Town.

They are currently seventh in the table, two points behind Suffolk rivals AFC Sudbury and a distant 14 points adrift of the top five.

“This is a good game for us,” continued Chenery, with reference to the visit of a Bowers & Pitsea side who are nine points clear at the top.

“We have had a very tough schedule lately, with away games at Aveley and Coggeshall, and now this match against Bowers, but these are the sort of games that you always want to play in.

“I want us to play with the identity that we have managed to do in recent games, full of running and playing at a high intensity.

“We haven’t played at home for over a month now, which has been strange. That’s a long time not to have a home game, and we have missed not being able to play in front of our home fans,” added Chenery.

Midfielder Ryan Jolland is set to return after suspension, while Jake Chambers-Shaw and Ollie Hughes both face late fitness tests, although Chenery is hopeful that both will be fit to feature.

Bury’s last home game was a 4-2 win over Basildon United on February 9.

Today is Bury’s only home match during March – the month ends with back-to-back away games at Dereham and Barking.