AS a player, the last thing you want to hear after being on the wrong end of a dodgy late decision, like Bury were on Tuesday night, is that experiences like that will make you stronger. But the fact of the matter is they do.

Taking positives from every situation, no matter how heartbreaking, is something you have to learn very early on as a footballer.

And while the boys will have needed picking up when they returned to training today, they will not have to look too far for positives.

Losing on Saturday was a blow, but to then go to a Championship club and play them off the park for 96 minutes, they have to now take that level of performance into the next game and I am sure they will come back from their next match at Hartlepool with three points.

Losing a last-minute penalty is hard to take, but they shouldn’t let that take the gloss off what was a thoroughly professional display.

And to then pick themselves up after going 3-1 down to get a goal back in extra time just shows the spirit in the camp.

That spirit will see them go far.

I fully anticipate Flicker to use the events of Tuesday night, and the defeat to Cheltenham to a lesser extent, to create a siege mentality.

When decisions go against you, especially if you are playing against a club from a higher division, you are left feeling like the world is against you, that nobody is going to help you, so you will just have to go out and do it the hard way.

The lads will have a similar approach to their league matches. When you are pegged as favourites, or one of the strong tips for promotion, as Bury have been, you get a feeling everyone wants to see you fail.

But Flicker must have been pleased by a lot of the things he saw on Tuesday night and he will use all of that as ammunition to fire up the lads before Saturday’s match.

One of the other stories doing the rounds this week has been Bury’s reported search for a new striker.

Accrington Stanley manager James Beattie came out on the attack after claiming the club made a derisory offer for Kai Naismith.

I have seen quite a bit of him while covering Accrington matches for BBC Radio Lancashire, and there is no doubt they will want to keep hold of Kai because he is something of a talisman for them.

He is one of those players who you can give the ball to and expect him to do something a bit different – create a chance from nothing.

I can only assume that the lad’s head was turned on Tuesday night as he was well below his usual standards against Leeds and was substituted at half-time. But while Beattie is keen to keep hold of him, if Bury are willing to pay a fee, which is unusual in League Two these days, then I think Stanley will have to consider it.