BURY manager David Flitcroft has compared winger Danny Mayor with his former Shakers team-mate David Nugent.

During Saturday's win over Carlisle, Mayor produced a performance which allied grit with guile, making another important step in his development since becoming a permanent Bury player.

And if the 23-year-old can excel on a pitch like that, imagine what he can do on a superior surface in tonight's rearranged derby at Accrington.

Flitcroft hailed Mayor's display and sees similarities with Nugent.

Flitcroft played alongside him during the 2004/05 season, when Nugent earned a move to Preston before going on to play for England and become a Premier League striker with Leicester.

“I loved Danny's performance, it was stunning,” said the Bury boss.

“At times it was exhilarating, the way he moves the ball. He was ruthless in his approach to going at defenders and going past midfielders.

“You could see the difference to last week's performance (against Wycombe), when the ball was dragging. The pitch was diabolical again but the way he glides over that pitch, it was a special performance to do what he did.

“It's a bit like when I was here as a player with Nuge. He outgrew the level and became better than it.

“It was embarrassing at times for opposition defenders and I remember playing with him thinking 'Wow! He looks like he's going to score every game.' He'd just become invincible at this level and Danny's getting to that stage.

“But as a football fan I love watching his work. He's a special player and he's growing into a top professional.

“He always wants to stay round and do extras, he lives local and he's now one of the last to leave the building whereas he used to be one of the first.

“We're teaching him a different way. I watch a lot of Championship football and I don't see players like Danny Mayor in that league.”

Mayor's form and Danny Nardiello's two-goal return tempered the news that Ryan Lowe will be out for around six weeks.

The hamstring injury that forced the striker off against Wycombe was as bad as first feared and with Lowe and Nardiello having been in and out of the side with minor injuries this term, Flitcroft won't rush him back.

Saturday's win edged the Shakers back into the League Two play-off places and they can strengthen their grip on a top-seven spot at Accrington.

The Shakers have now lost just one of their last six, winning three of them, while Stanley's bid to get into play-off contention has wavered in recent weeks. Saturday's 2-1 loss at AFC Wimbledon made it three defeats in four for the Reds and two postponements, including the initial Friday night date with Bury, have left them playing catch-up.

Although the first match was rained off, the Accrington pitch was playable by the Saturday afternoon and is a lot better than in recent years – and a lot better than Bury's at present.

"They've had some work done on it and it's a solid pitch so we're looking forward to it," Flitcroft added.

"We showed on Saturday that we want to get into that top seven, that was the next thing we could affect. The next part is to stay there and keep building on that."