THE fighting spirit Bury showed to battle Chesterfield and the elements to take all three points was testament to the players' character, says manager David Flitcroft.

Danny Mayor scored the only goal midway through the second half, but Bury should have been way out of sight by then having rattled the woodwork three times in the opening 45 minutes.

Heavy rain forced the postponement of five Football League games on Saturday but the new drainage at Gigg Lane, put in place last year and realigned over the summer, proved to be money well spent.

Standing water on the sodden surface slowed down the tempo of the game, but the Shakers dug in for the full 90 minutes to secure a victory that lifted them up to seventh in League One, one point and one place outside the play-offs.

“Credit to the players. That took some character to play in those conditions,” said Flitcroft.

“You don't win anything with talent. You win things with character, and they showed that in abundance.

“I said to the players at half-time that I could feel they were frustrated.

"We hit the post three times in the first half and nearly got that goal.

“The game plan was to start hard and start fast, which we did. The tempo was fantastic.

“We just didn't kill them off.

"They (Chesterfield) are a wounded animal. There's no manager at the minute and we did worry whether we had given them that impetus to keep going and keep working hard after failing to kill them off.

“When you have got a top player like Danny Mayor on the pitch you always have an opportunity to score.

"He was positive, drove at them and produced a left-foot finish that was excellent.”

Flitcroft made three changes from the 1-0 victory over Rochdale in the FA Cup the previous weekend.

Joe Riley's return from injury meant utility man Craig Jones dropped to the bench, while Chris Hussey was ruled out with a virus meaning Danny Pugh slotted in at left-back.

Tom Pope also returned to the starting XI, partnering Danny Rose up front in the absence of Leon Clarke, while former youth team striker Anthony Dudley was recalled from his loan spell at Guiseley and was named on the substitutes bench.

Joe Dodoo showed exactly why his manager was keen to extend his loan deal as the Leicester winger drove down the right and crossed for Tom Soares in the opening 20 seconds, but the midfielder had his header deflected wide.

On the fifth minute, the Leicester loanee danced down the right channel before sliding in Rose, but he stabbed his shot straight at Tommy Lee in the Chesterfield goal.

Mayor parted the Chesterfield defence in two when he ran at them in the 16th minute before Lee dived to his left to tip the shot on to the post. The rebound fell to the feet of Soares 18 yards out but he rattled the opposite post.

The Shakers shook the post for a third time seven minutes later when Dodoo volleyed Mayor's cross from the left straight against the woodwork.

It took 39 minutes for the first Chesterfield chance to arrive but in-form Bury stopper Daniel Bachmann flew to his right to keep out Sam Morsy's 25-yard piledriver.

The Spireites attempted to quell Bury's first-half dominance by making a double half-time substitution to match up with the hosts' 4-4-2 formation.

But it was the Shakers who started the second period the quickest as Riley burst down the right and crossed for Pope, but he headed over.

The visitors grew into the game as they matched Bury man for man.

Bachmann made a couple of routine saves to deny Brad O'Shea and Mani Dieseruvwe, who both cut in from the left and fired shots straight at him.

Daniel Nardiello replaced Pope in the 67th minute for his first taste of first-team action in seven months after being laid low with a back injury.

A minute later Bury took the lead.

Mayor picked up the ball in the middle of the park and stormed towards goal. As the Chesterfield defence backed off, the midfielder slotted the ball into the bottom corner to give his side the lead.

The Spireites had one final chance in added time to snatch a share of the spoils but Bachmann kept his concentration straight to the end to deny Ian Evatt from close range with only seconds remaining.

It was a fantastic result and performance, especially considering Bury were missing first-team regulars Hussey and Leon Clarke, as well as recent signing Chris Eagles.

Flitcroft explained their absence after the match.

He said: “Leon has an intercostal [injury]. He had a bang in the game [at Rochdale].

“Huss-dog got a viral infection in the middle of the week. He was with the medical team and it was decided that it was too much of a challenge to play him.

"Chris Hussey is someone who does everything by the book. His diet's incredible, his supplementation is fantastic and his body is an absolute machine.

“Chris Eagles pulled his groin in the game (against Rochdale) so it's probably 10 days out for Chris.”

Match ratings

BURY (4-4-2): Bachmann 8; Riley 7, Cameron 7, P Clarke 8, Pugh 7; Dodoo 6 (Jones 59, 6), Soares 7, Etuhu 7, Mayor 8; Rose 7 (Brown 74, 6), Pope 6 (Nardiello 67, 7). Not used: Lainton, Sedgwick, Dudley, Burgess.

CHESTERFIELD (3-4-2-1): Lee; Hird, Evatt, Raglan; Talbot, Morsy, O'Neil (O'Shea 46), Donohue (Gardner 46); Banks, Ebanks-Blake; Dieseruvwe (Simmons 67). Not used: Chapman, Ariyibi, McGuire, Humphreys

Goals: Bury – Mayor 68.

Yellow cards: Bury – Soares 41, Pope 41, Brown 84. Chesterfield – O'Neil 28, Evatt 41, Banks 76.

Referee: Peter Bankes (Merseyside).

Attendance: 2,962 (287 visiting).

STAR MAN: Danny Mayor – The left-midfielder was without his usual partner Chris Hussey down the left, but he still put in a complete performance, working hard in both attack and defence. Mayor's crossing was superb with both feet and he could easily have had more than one goal but was denied by the woodwork in the first half.