IF you want to see an example of how important a factor confidence is to footballers then you only have to look at Danny Mayor.

I have known Danny since he was a youngster at Preston and it was always clear to me he was a potential match winner.

What he needed was someone to believe in him and you are seeing the results in his last two performances.

That is so often the case with young players.

I think it is fair to say Danny is a complex character, but if you can get him playing for you, well, I think he showed a few people what he could do on Tuesday night.

I know David Flitcroft has asked quite a few people about him since taking over.

For me, Danny has the ability to score and create goals, and now Flickers has been able to bring that out of him I think he will be a real asset for the team between now and the end of the season, when he is due to go back to Sheffield Wednesday.

I am so pleased for Danny personally, because I know just what he will be going through right now and how he will be feeling.

As a young player you just want someone to take you under their wing.

The very same thing happened to me with Martin Dobson, who brought me to Bury after I had been around a bit.

After my first season at Gigg Lane I know quite a few of the directors were asking the manager why he had signed me.

I didn’t know how to handle that and it was getting to me. I made the mistake of putting too much stock in the negative things people were saying about me.

But Martin stuck by me and things just clicked into place. I started scoring goals from midfield and my team-mates started to show belief in me.

All of a sudden I realised this was it, this was what professional football was about.

It gave me the confidence to believe I could play at a higher level. And that is what could well happen with Danny and quite a few of the other members of the team, who may either become saleable assets or assets to the football club in terms of helping them win promotion.

That is the aim and who would put it past this squad? A couple of good results have seen them shoot up the table and with Rochdale at home on the horizon, just imagine what another win this weekend would do to their confidence going into that game. Up the Shakers!