WHEN Bury last prepared for a campaign in League One, Ryan Lowe admits there were concerns within the camp that the club were not prepared.

Richie Barker led the Shakers to promotion four years ago, finishing a credible 14th before financial problems accelerated a decline that nearly wiped the club out for good.

This time, however, Lowe is convinced that the infrastructure put in place by chairman Stewart Day, David Flitcroft and his staff ensure they go into the new season on a much firmer footing.

The striker, who was sold to Sheffield Wednesday soon after promotion, revealed the nagging doubts which existed the last time Bury made the step up in class.

“Last time I was here and we won promotion the side was easily good enough to stay in the league, but they we didn’t, for well-documented reasons,” he told the Bury Times.

“Now we have moved on. We have got back to League One, we will consolidate in the league for the next year or so and then we will push on again.

“Last time the club wasn’t set up for us to go up. Financially, it wasn’t ready in terms of wages and money coming in.

“Now the chairman, you can’t speak highly enough of him for what he’s done, bringing in a Championship manager and players who have either played or are capable of playing in the Championship. It speaks volumes.”

After recruiting two star signings in Tom Pope and Leon Clarke, with the promise of more, some are tipping the Shakers for a double promotion.

A veteran of 15 previous seasons in the Football League, Lowe is experienced enough to keep his own expectations in check.

But after returning to the JD from Tranmere Rovers last summer and firing 11 goals in League Two in the promotion campaign, the Liverpudlian is looking towards the future with optimism.

“I came back here to get promoted with this team and at the end of the day we got that and I think we will get to where we want to get to next,” he said. “It might take a year or two but I think we have the potential to get there.”

Lowe’s defining moment in a Bury shirt came against Chesterfield – a club who tried hard to sign him last summer before he opted to join Flitcroft’s ‘revolution’.

“I turned a contract down at Chesterfield, which people probably don’t know,” he said. “I get called money grabber, greedy this and greedy that by many fans but I got offered a lot of money to sign a contract for Chesterfield and had to speak to Paul Cook and say ‘I can’t because I can’t commit to the travelling, I want to go home back to Bury’.

“This club is on a revolution and hopefully we can consolidate next season and then push on.”