Jones driven by play-off heartbreak (From Bury Times)

Jones driven by play-off heartbreak

10:10am Thursday 17th December 2009

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MICHAEL Jones says the heartbreak of last season’s play-off defeat is the reason the players are determined to add more consistency to their game.

Bury have had some indifferent results in recent weeks, with defeats to Morecambe and Dagenham and Redbridge being sandwiched by a good win against Barnet.

The 11-match unbeaten run that came to an end with defeat to Morecambe catapulted Alan Knill’s men back into the play-off places after a poor start to the season, and Jones wants the team to embark on similar runs in the second half of the season to try and secure an automatic promotion place.

He was heartbroken when Shrewsbury beat Bury in the play-offs in May — and he wants the Shakers to avoid that misery this time around.

“That horrible feeling from the play-off defeat is still in the back of everybody’s minds and we are using it to drive us on this season,” said the 22-year-old winger. “Nobody wants to go through that again.

“It’s up to us now because we know we are good enough and we have to really go for it.

“We went 11 games unbeaten until we lost against Morecambe and we want to do it again and get into the thick of things.

“Our aim is to be right in the mix by the time we get into January.

“We have been moving one step forward and two back recently. We need to put our foot on the accelerator now, but there is a lot of hunger in the camp to get up into the top places and stay there.

“There are plenty of games coming up now and plenty of points up for grabs. It’s up to us to put together a run we know we’re capable of.

“We need to get some consistency back, and Christmas is a great time to do that.”

Jones was disappointed with the weekend defeat at Dagenham, but is determined not to dwell too much on the past.

“It was nice to be back in the squad after injury, but it was not the result we wanted,” the former Tranmere man said.

“At 1-1, we were hoping to be the team that got the three points and the final scoreline was disappointing.

“We had chances to get back into it at 2-1, and 3-1 certainly flattered them a bit, but we have to kick on now.

“It’s a good chance to get three points against Macclesfield and we’ll take it from there.”

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