DANIEL Nardiello will assess Bury’s progress over the second half of the season before deciding whether to commit to the club long-term.

That is the view of Shakers manager David Flitcroft, who this week persuaded the 31-year-old Rotherham United striker to extend his loan deal at the JD Stadium until the end of the campaign.

Nardiello will now resume his partnership with fellow loan striker Anton Forrester - who has also agreed to extend his stay from Blackburn Rovers - for Saturday's trip to Chesterfield.

“When I work with a player I look into the whites of his eyes to see if he wants to be a part of something,” said Flitcroft.

“Nards does, but I think it might just be that we give him a bit more time to make that decision.

“I have only been in the building four weeks so he is assessing what we are doing and he’s assessing how strong we are going to get and how much we are going to improve.

“I think with Danny he wants to be part of something successful and if he can see that I think he will buy into it.”

The former Manchester United forward scored 19 goals for Rotherham last season, helping Steve Evans’ side win promotion to League One.

After banging in another five goals in the third tier at the start of the current campaign, it came as a shock to both the Millers and Shakers fans when he was tempted to move to the JD Stadium.

Flitcroft admitted the proven goalscorer could easily have walked away when his initial loan period ran out at the end of last week, but revealed he was tempted by the promise of an additional role at the club.

“Danny is quite excited about a possible coaching link that we might have and I can’t wait to let him get involved,” he said.

“I am also excited because Nards was someone who we really wanted to get over the line.

“I think he had other options, for sure, potentially from promotion-chasing clubs, but Nards has found a bit of a home here.

“He likes the way we conduct our business on the field and on the training ground.

“I now hope he commits further because he is certainly someone who leads the line for us in the way I want to play football.

“He’s ideal for that and he is someone I want to work with long term.”