BURY’s ever-present left-back Greg Leigh says he is enjoying life at Gigg Lane despite being in the thick of a relegation battle.

The former Manchester City youngster has racked up the most appearances for the Shakers this term with 36 – missing only the home tie against Millwall in November through suspension.

Leigh struggled for game time at Bradford City last year and made only nine starts but says he is delighted to be playing again after making the switch to Bury in the summer.

“I do enjoy playing the games especially after last season when I didn’t play as many as I wanted to,” said the 22-year-old defender.

“It has been different. I’m a younger player and getting used to playing week in, week out is something that takes time.

“I’ve learned a lot playing every week – how to look after my body and my mind – and I’ve definitely enjoyed it.”

Leigh was named man-of-the-match after Saturday’s 1-0 win at home to Swindon, when the Shakers kept their first clean sheet in eight games.

Before that Bury had only kept one opponent at bay in 31 attempts – a statistic that made Leigh shudder.

“I don’t really like that stat,” he said. “There have been a lot of people trying to pinpoint the reason for it, and there has been a lot of change as well. It is definitely something people have found hard to put their finger on.

“A lot of injuries doesn’t help. It’s a bad stat, it doesn’t look good but we have got to keep going.

“It was important we kept the clean sheet and now we kick on from there.”

Although only in his third season of professional football, Leigh has plenty of experience of League One relegation scraps.

The pacy full-back spent the 2014/15 season on loan with Crewe Alexandra and played almost every game as they avoided the drop on the final day of the season – a lesson learned that points need to be picked up sooner rather than later.

He added: “I’ve done it before. I did it when I was at Crewe so I’m used to the pressure and the must-win games.

“While the six-pointers are pressurised, they also represent a great opportunity to beat teams that are in and around us and if we can climb above them and stay above them, that’s the kind of thing that will keep us in this league.”