NICK Pope has plenty of experience to draw upon as the young goalkeeper attempts to overcome Monday's disappointing defeat and help Bury chase down automatic promotion.

Last season he kept 16 clean sheets in the final 24 games of York’s campaign to help them squeeze into the League Two play-offs, before they were beaten by Fleetwood in the semi-finals.

And if that was not enough, the 22-year-old on-loan Charlton stopper was able to pick the brains of Gary Neville last week as the former Manchester United defender visited Bury’s Carrington training ground.

The message – from both Neville and his own experiences – was essentially the same: Keep calm and carry on.

“I thought he spoke exceptionally well about his experiences and what he has been through as a player, obviously not on winning promotions but going for titles,” said Pope, who endured a rare off day on Monday as his misplaced clearance gifted Morecambe a last-gasp winner.

“He told us about the time they chased down Arsenal and Newcastle and the experiences they went through.

“They might have won their last seven games or something but there were ups and downs within those times.

“It is about keeping your head and trying to do what is best – not panicking.”

Pope has had a similar effect on Bury’s promotion charge this season as he did at York, where Nigel Worthington’s side went 17-games unbeaten to nudge out the Shakers and claim a place in the top seven.

The Shakers have won eight of their last 10 games – 10 in 16 since Pope’s arrival – and go into this weekend’s trip to play-off chasers Newport four points outside the top three.

A year on and the Soham-born stopper believes he is in an even better position to handle the pressure that comes with the territory.

“We have just got to keep on getting wins and see where that takes us,” said Pope.

“We go into every game to win. There is no question of going away from home looking for a point. There is no room to think like that anymore.

“To chase teams down, as we did (at York), and keep the momentum – that was a great experience and obviously similar to the situation we are in now, chasing the top three.

“We went nearly 20 games unbeaten so there wasn’t really a lot that went wrong to be honest.

“You learn from the experiences you go through. That was obviously my first time so I can draw back on that experience now.”

Where Pope’s experiences may still be lacking is how to get over the line after his York side failed to finish the job in the play-offs, losing 1-0 over two legs against Fleetwood.

The keeper has no intention of repeating that experience and will be taking one last pearl of wisdom from Neville.

“Gary touched on this – you have to go out and take the points, no-one is going to give them to you, especially when you are chasing,” he said. “And there is no point in looking at the table every day. It is going to sort itself out if we do things right.”