BURY supporters heading to their match at home to Morecambe today may well have half an eye on proceedings away from the JD Stadiium.

Third-placed Wycombe Wanderers go head-to-head with leaders Burton Albion in a game that could have an important bearing on the Shakers’ promotion aspirations.

Defeat for Wycombe could see David Flitcroft’s side close the gap on the automatic places to just one point, and if Burton slip-up Bury have the chance to move to within five points of top spot.

With a game in hand of all three teams above them, Bury are perfectly poised to pounce, but Flitcroft knows what happens elsewhere is meaningless if his side do not continue their impressive winning run.

“I have just tried to focus on our own game, but for the first time after the abandoned game last Saturday I found myself checking out the other scores,” said the manager, admitting a tinge of disappointment after Wycombe and second-placed Shrewsbury won tricky away games after Bury’s match against Southend was called off due to a waterlogged pitch.

“I went sitting, staring at the telly to see how Wycombe and Shrewsbury did, but we can’t be affected by that. We are Bury Football Club and we have got to keep on driving it home.”

Results elsewhere saw Bury drop back to seven points outside the top three going into the Good Friday fixtures.

But a 2-0 win at Cambridge, coupled with defeat for Wycombe at home to Oxford and a draw for Burton at Plymouth yet again changed the complexion of the League Two table.

Flitcroft praised his players for Friday’s professional display and while he admitted their destiny is not wholly in their own hands, he has challenged them to pile on the points to at least confirm their place in the play-offs as quickly as possible.

“We have got momentum now but the three teams above us have all performed fantastically well,” said the Bury boss, whose side have picked up 24 points from a possible 27.

“They have three unbelievable managers in Micky Mellon (Shrewsbury), Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (Burton) and Gareth Ainsworth (Wycombe) all driving their teams on to success.

“So we are hanging on the back of their coattails.

“We have got to keep the pressure on them.

“Certainly the goal from the outset at the start of the season was automatic promotion.

“We want to be in the top three, but if we can’t achieve that I want us to guarantee our place in the play-offs as soon as we can so we can start planning.”

Bury go into today’s game with an 11-point cushion over Stevenage in eighth place with seven games of their campaign remaining.

They could be missing key defender Adam El-Abd, however, after the centre-back fell awkwardly on his knee and was carried off on a stretcher on Friday.

Jim McNulty is an obvious choice as cover, but he is struggling to overcome a hip problem, meaning Flitcroft could be forced to recall Pablo Mills from his loan spell at basement club Cheltenham or throw in rookie defender Keil O’Brien for his second first-team appearance.