SECURING the club’s football future remains Bury’s main objective, even more important than promotion, according to manager David Flitcroft.

Back-to-back draws against fellow play-off hopefuls Exeter and Stevenage this week have seen the Shakers drop out of the top seven on goal difference.

And while the gap to the automatic promotion places remains at 10 points, Flitcroft has questioned the theory that it is League One or bust for Bury.

The club’s board revealed a loss of £1.6million in the 2014 accounts at a recent meeting of shareholders, with chairman Stewart Day highlighting the need to increase gates to cover running costs.

He and his fellow directors continue to make up the shortfall, but the Shakers chief admitted the promise of bigger crowds and more derbies in the third tier next season was an enticing prospect.

Yet his manager is philosophical about the impact another season in League Two would have on the club’s immediate and long-term future.

“Someone one day will really look into the mess we took over at the football club, but we know where we are at,” he said.

“We are an improving football club. And if we have got to go down to Stevenage again next year then we will.

“If we can get into League One then fantastic, that is our first objective, but we don’t derail everything if that doesn’t happen because there is a bigger plan – to secure the club’s football future.”

That is not to say the manager wants to dampen enthusiasm for this season’s promotion campaign, he is just eager to temper fears of failure and the potential impact on the club’s fragile finances.

The fact is, while the chances of automatic promotion are fading, there are still 16 matches left to bridge the 10-point gap.

And Bury are in the thick of the battle for the play-off places, level on points with seventh-placed Plymouth, who moved ahead of them this week on goal difference.

Competition is equally fierce at the opposite end of the table, and Flitcroft was quick to point out there are no “dead rubbers” ahead of Saturday’s trip to third-bottom Cheltenham.

“There are no targets, it’s one game to the next,” he said.

“It’s a relentless league. You have got to plan for the next game in meticulous detail and once you have analysed that then move on to the next one.

“The league is probably as exciting as I have seen League Two for a long time. Every single week there are no dead rubbers.

“A lot of teams could still get in the play-offs.

“There are quite a few teams fighting against relegation, there are lower teams taking points off the top ones.

“And teams like us are still trying to push for the top three so it’s a fascinating league this season.

“There is no one team cut adrift and there is a middle pack that can really elevate themselves into the play-offs, so it causes every game on Saturday to be an interesting one.”