DAVID Flitcroft has no doubt his Bury side will get back to the top of League Two, but admits he needs to drum into his players exactly how to stay there.

The Shakers were knocked off top spot last Saturday following a 3-2 defeat at Wimbledon.

It was the second time this season they had slipped up on their travels to fall off the League Two summit, just seven days after scaling the heights.

It is a pattern the Bury manager has no desire to continue.

“We will bounce back,” he said. “We lost at home to Cheltenham (on the opening day of the season) and went on a seven-game unbeaten run. We then got beat at Exeter and won the next two (at home to Tranmere in the league and Morecambe in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy).

“It’s in there to do it, the next bit of our plan and our journey is that, once we are at the top of the league, which we will be again, is how we stay there and how we handle that.

“I told the players (after Saturday’s defeat at Wimbledon) to have a chat on the way home. Speak to the experienced players, speak to the promotion players and we will come up with a plan for that because they are going to need to know.”

One thing the Bury boss will not do, however, is go back to the drawing board ahead of Saturday’s home match against Portsmouth or their next away test at Shrewsbury on Tuesday.

The Shakers have put themselves in the promotion frame with an attacking swagger that has seen them play much the same way in away matches as they have at home.

That has led to some very open games, but after conceding only 11 goals in 12 league matches so far this season, Flitcroft is confident he has the defenders and defensive structure capable of holding firm on their travels, without having to reign in his more attacking players.

“Our defenders - Pablo Mills, Nults (Jim McNulty) and (Nathan) Cameron - have been the bedrock to our success, so we are on the right track,” he said.

“You can tell that things have gone wrong (at Wimbledon) to concede three goals, it is how we bounce back, how we react and how we move forward.

“There is no blame culture. We will look at ourselves hard and try to get the answers.

“But this isn’t a case of ripping it up and starting again. We are still in the top three. It is a case of improving on what we have done and making sure the problems we have faced don’t happen again.

“The players are determined that they won’t, but as a coach I have got to try to drive that home and make sure we design that. We won’t leave anything to chance in our next game.”