NICKY Ajose has promised Shakers fans a thrilling ride after joining their League One promotion drive.

The Bury-born forward has returned to his hometown club for a third spell after sealing a season-long loan from Charlton.

Ajose helped spur Bury on to promotion from League Two in the 2010/11 season in his first loan stint, but they were relegated from the third tier in his second two years later.

And while the 25-year-old has unfinished business at Gigg Lane, he is pleased to find a very different environment to the one he left four years ago.

“It is nice to come back under these circumstances,” Ajose said.

“The last two times it has been an against all odds kind of thing, this time it is a different type of pressure.

“We have been backed massively by the chairman, we have brought in some top players for this level and we have been given everything to succeed. It’s a good squad. It’s like we have picked all the best players we possibly could from this level. We have got no excuses.

“I was monitoring the situation with James Vaughan and I was aware there might have been a possibility so when that deal got done I was on my bike straight away. There is a lot of experience and a lot of good young players, it’s going to be a great ride.”

Manager Lee Clark will have to start the campaign without summer signing Phil Edwards, who has torn knee cartilage in training. The right-back is not expected to miss more than a month, however, after undergoing successful keyhole surgery to repair the damage.