INJURIES are part and parcel of football and how a manager deals with them can have a major impact on any season.

For a club like Bury, which went into the current campaign with a relatively small squad of talented players, the effect can be that much greater.

Every side has key men who, if you lose them, results will suffer.

I mentioned last week how I felt the loss of left-back Chris Hussey had upset the dynamic of the team going forward, as well as in defence.

But the general rule of thumb is that it is the absence of players in the spine of a team that will have the biggest impact.

Bury have already had to face up to life without central midfielders Kelvin Etuhu and Andrew Tutte for a number of weeks now and it looks like they will not be coming back any time soon.

But, for the large part, they have dealt with that admirably, using utility players like Reece Brown and Danny Pugh to good effect.

It is harder to see how the side will cope with the loss of goalkeeper Rob Lainton and possibly now captain Nathan Cameron.

It is no exaggeration to say the absence of both men would be a massive blow.

Lainton had been playing so well, and it is a crying shame for him personally that his emergence as a genuine number one will now be undermined by up to eight weeks on the sidelines.

The back four grew in confidence with every game Rob played, so you have to say his improved performances played a major part in the Shakers’ recent winning run.

Even with Cameron in the side, it would take a while for the Bury defenders to regain that level of confidence in any new goalkeeper.

There is bound to be a period of adjustment and that was shown in Saturday’s defeat at Shrewsbury.

The unfortunate Aaron McCarey came in at the last minute and made a couple of mistakes for the goals, but you would hope he would have been given time to bed and prove his worth.

His injury means a new man, Daniel Bachmann, will now be in place for the visit of Blackpool and he will also need time to get to know the players before being judged on his performances.

If he has to do that behind a defence without Cameron then Peter Clarke, with his experience, will have a huge role to play over the coming months.

What is key, however, is the Bury management stand firm, learn from the dip they had at the same time last season, make bold, rational decisions on personnel and then stand by them.