Bury Town plotting tactical tweaks and require character in bid to bounce back after losing FA Trophy derby at AFC Sudbury

A couple of tactical tweaks and character – that is what Bury Town assistant boss Paul Musgrove believes is required following Saturday’s derby to forget away at AFC Sudbury.

The Blues made the short journey down the A134 for the FA Trophy tie buoyed by the fact that they had recently beaten their rivals 1-0 in a Southern League Premier Central Division encounter.

However, Sudbury certainly took their revenge at the Elite Travel Stadium, running out convincing 4-0 winners to advance through to the first round proper of the national competition.

For Musgrove and Bury manager Cole Skuse, it was an afternoon that left them with plenty to ponder.

Their side’s style of play in recent seasons has been well defined and effective in equal measure. Usually operating with wing-backs, they control possession with midfielders that are all comfortable on the ball.

But with a return of just eight goals from nine league games – and 10 in 13 in all competitions – there is a sense that alterations may be required.

Musgrove said: “Sudbury were much more clinical than us. I can’t really remember a lot of chances for them – they scored with most of what they had.

“But they got bodies behind the ball well and we ultimately couldn’t break them down.

“It’s something we’re looking at because while we’re getting into forward positions quite regularly, we’re struggling to break a lot of teams down.

“It’s not a case of ripping up what we’ve been doing because there are certain patterns and ways of playing that have given us great success.

“But it’s the speed in which we attack, that is something we need to improve.

“Teams are getting too much time to get themselves back into shape and at any level of football, if someone has 11 players behind the ball, it’s very hard to get through.

“We’re not getting enough bodies in the right areas quick enough and that’s something we’ll be working on.”

But while there is work to be done on the training pitch, Musgrove is also keen to see a response from the players mentally.

He added: “We’ll look at things tactically but we’ll definitely want a response from the group.

“The desire they’ve shown in recent years to get to where we are has been amazing and they need to show some more of it now.

“When the chips are down you need characters, people that are going to roll their sleeves up and even if it’s not going right for them on the pitch, they’re still doing all of the basics right.

“Whatever we’ve asked the group to do in the past they’ve done it and I’m sure that will be the case again.”

Bury head to Bromsgrove Sporting tomorrow (3pm) before playing host to St Ives Town on Tuesday (7.45pm).