BURY’S players head off to Mansfield Town tonight with the pre-match team talk ringing in their ears...after hearing it for a third time.

The League Two fixture has twice been called off over the past month because of a waterlogged pitch, but the Nottinghamshire club said yesterday they expected no such problems this time round.

And manager David Flitcroft says his players have been well prepped and know just what to expect following the two previous false starts.

“I think they must know the Mansfield players inside out,” he said.

“I will have done the presentation three times now, so we are looking forward to finally getting the game on.”

Mansfield ruffled a few feathers at the JD Stadium earlier in the season when the then Bury manager Ronnie Jepson complained about their aggressive tactics.

But Flitcroft has promised his side will not abandon their passing style of play to combat the Stags.

“It should be every manager’s mantra – to try to win every game,” said Flitcroft, after guiding his Bury side to a 1-0 victory at Wimbledon on Saturday.

“A lot of teams will have gone to Wimbledon and played 4-5-1, but we played three at the back, four across midfield and three up front.

“We’re not going to fear anyone, we are going to every club in the league to try to beat them.

“I don’t believe in setting up not to lose a game.

“So we are just going to concentrate on what we are doing, but the mantra is to win football matches.”

That mantra has served Flitcroft and his team well in recent weeks, with their latest victory making it just one defeat in the last nine matches, putting Bury second in the form tables behind promotion chasers Rochdale.

Part of that success has been put down to Bury's fantastic defensive record since the turn of the year, with five clean sheets in their last seven matches.

That good run continued seemlessly on Saturday despite the inclusion of new defender Jake Carroll.

The 22-year-old Irishman, who joined from Championship side Huddersfield last week, is expected to make his second appearance tonight after impressing in his debut at left wing-back.

There could also be a place on the bench again for Navid Nasseri after the youth-team striker was picked ahead of established regulars like Tom Soares at Wimbledon, but Ashley Grimes remains sidelined with a hamstring injury.