IT has been said Saturday’s defeat at Exeter was a kick up the backside for the Bury players – a gentle reminder they cannot just turn up and assume they will roll teams over.

But I didn’t see it like that. By all accounts, the Shakers played well but fell down in the final third.

That happens. Sometimes, for one reason or another, it is just not your day. It is how Bury bounce back from these disappointments that will be the true test of their promotion credentials and I expect them to do that this weekend.

Consistency of results is the real benchmark for teams at this level.

Results tend to be more topsy-turvy in League Two than they are, say, in the Premier League, where you may expect the champions to lose three or four games maximum in a season.

In the bottom tier, there is much less between the sides.

It wasn’t until the final weeks of last season that the table finally began to take shape. Bury provided a great example of what a team could achieve by stringing a few wins together.

They went from relegation candidates in February to play-off possibilities by April. So what will set them apart this season is consistency of results and performances.

They have already shown they are capable of that after bouncing back from defeat on the opening day to go eight matches unbeaten.

If they can continue to repeat that throughout the season then they will be there or thereabouts.

One way of achieving that level of consistency is by being able to name a settled side.

David Flitcroft has already proved he is willing to do that in the faith he has shown in young keeper Rob Lainton. Youngsters, especially in that position, need a prolonged run in the side to be able to prove what they can do.

Lainton was given that chance after his performance against Bolton in the Capital One Cup and I believe he has improved already as a result.

What happened with Exeter’s winner was one of those things. You couldn’t really call it a mistake, but the only way he will learn from it is for the manager to show faith in him and give him another chance, and I believe he will do that.

Finally, I would like to offer my condolences to the family of Fred Mason.

He was one of the nicest people I have ever met in football.

Fred was not in it for the ego, he cared deeply about Bury, especially helping to give young people, like I was when I first met him, a chance in the game.

I know everyone at the club will miss him dearly.