LEE Clark says he will be sitting down with Alex Bruce to offer the defender a permanent contract after he scored on his debut at Wigan.

The former Hull City man was a surprise name on the team sheet when he stepped in for injured skipper Stephen Dawson – who is ruled out for four months – after signing non-contract terms on Friday.

Bruce headed the Shakers a 15th-minute equaliser, just two minutes after Michael Jacob’s had given the hosts an early lead.

However, a second-half collapse, spearheaded by Nick Powell’s brace and Lee Evans’ late strike, sent Bury home empty-handed.

“Hopefully we can sit down with Alex and make that a longer term deal,” Clark said. “His experience and his quality on the ball was there for everyone to see.

“Alex was outstanding until he understandably tired. It was going to be the case because it had been so long since he last had a competitive game.

“We have had terrible news on Stephen. He has an appointment with a surgeon first thing Monday morning then will go straight in for surgery.

“He has torn his cartilage very badly and he will be out for four months. We needed to try and get some kind of replacement.”

Bury matched their hosts for the majority of an entertaining first half.

“The better team won, especially in the second half,” Clark admitted. “I thought we started the game brightly and on the front foot but we gave a disappointing goal away.

“We scored with a terrific header from Alex from a great set-play by Chris Maguire and had other chances and opportunities by playing decent football.

“Second half we ended up looking like a very tired team. We played on Thursday night but that’s no excuse. We still didn’t do enough good things.

“When you’re tired you have to keep possession of the ball far more superior than we did today.

“We gave the ball away so cheaply and it became too easy the second half.

“The goals that we gave away are not particularly great so we have to have a look at that.”

A total of 1,163 Bury fans made the trip and Clark said: “My message to them is ‘you just keep doing what you’re doing.’ They are doing their side of the bargain right, we just need to do ours now.

“We didn’t give them anything to shout about in the second half but we did a lot of good things in the first.”

Bury (4-4-2): Murphy 4; Jones 4, Aldred 4, Thompson 3, Leigh 4; Maguire 6 (Humphrey 74, 5), Reilly 5, Bruce 6 (Dai 74, 5), Ismail 5 (Ajose 67, 5); Beckford 5, Bunn 5.

Unused subs: Fasan, Whitmore, Styles, Lowe.

Wigan (4-2-3-1): Walton; Bryne, Dunkley, Burn, James; Evans, Morsy; Jacobs, Powell (Colclough 75), Massey (Gilbey 75); Toney (Grigg 84).

Unused subs: Evans, Perkins, Thomas, Hunt.

Referee: Oliver Langford (West Midlands).

Attendance: 9,159 (1,163 visiting).