David Flitcroft felt his Bury players showed they could scrap as well as sparkle as they held on for their first home win of the season against Plymouth on Saturday and that was good to see.

They showed great team spirit and resolve to see out the game when Daniel Nardiello suffered a groin injury after Flitcroft had used all his substitutes. You can’t legislate for late injuries like that and the team just dealt with it.

It just shows what they are all about. Defensively they all dig in and, although they conceded, they will feel fantastic having gained all three points and it is looking good for the rest of the season.

There is a real expectation around the club these days and you can see why they are one of the favourites for promotion with the bookies.

The fans expect to win games and the players expect to win too.

But they will have to be careful and understand that they are not going to boss a game fully for 90 minutes as everybody is going to want to take Bury’s scalp this season.

It may only be four matches into the new season but the Shakers are already in seventh place and in the hunt for a play-off spot. Last season they were near relegation at this point, so it is all clicking and gelling together very nicely at the moment.

Everyone knows the club has got some money to spend on the best players and wages but they still have to be managed correctly.

When you sign the best players you have got to get the right characters as well, and that’s what Flitcroft is doing. The whole squad is buying into what he wants, and that’s promotion.

On Saturday they face a different kind of test against a struggling Accrington side and different questions will be asked of the team.

I saw Accrington against Leeds United in the Capital One Cup and to be honest they deserved to take it to extra time there. Bury played them at a similar time last season under Kevin Blackwell and beat them comfortably 3-0.

Although I expect a home win, the Bury players cannot go into that game thinking the Accrington team are going to roll over and allow them to win.

Flitcroft will be looking for his players to be focused and show their mental strength and attitude.

If they win that one then they are really moving up and will have really arrived.