Bury suffered their sixth defeat in seven league outings following a narrow 3-2 loss at home to Walsall.

The Shakers were abysmal in the first period and trailed 3-0 at the break thanks to an own goal from Chris Hussey and strikes from Tom Bradshaw and Anthony Forde.

But a spirited second-half fightback - where Leon Clarke netted twice in as many minutes - restored some hope.

And Clarke, who boasts an impressive tally of 15 goals in 25 games this term, could have wrapped up his hat-trick late on, but rattled the post when played through by Danny Rose.

David Flitcroft was forced to make one change from last weekend's goalless stalemate with Bradford but retained faith in his 4-1-4-1 formation.

Craig Jones was sidelined through injury so in came Jacob Mellis who played on the right side of midfield.

Referee Mark Haywood arrived early at Gigg Lane to inspect the pitch after a night of freezing temperatures but after some excellent work from the groundsman the game was given the go ahead.

And Anthony Forde nearly gave the visitors a dream start but his fierce long-range shot flew narrowly over the crossbar.

Bury looked comfortable in the opening exchanges as Tom Soares and Mellis took control of possession and attempted to play Leon Clarke through on goal at every opportunity.

But in fortuitous circumstances the Saddles struck first on the 17th minute.

Out of nothing Andrew Taylor picked up the ball down the left and fizzed a cross low across the six yard box which evaded everybody and struck the leg of Hussey before trickling into the net.

And it got a lot worse for the hosts on the 31st minute from their own corner.

Hussey's corner was cleared to Joe Riley at the halfway line, he was then dispossessed by Forde who drove the counter-attack forward before finding Bradshaw who made no mistake, converting from close range.

Flitcroft rolled the dice on the 37th minute and introduced John O'Sullivan from the bench in place of Riley.

But Bury had already collapsed and fell further behind when Forde drifted past Hussey down the right so easily before cutting back onto his left foot and slamming the ball across goal into the bottom corner three minutes before the break.

Danny Rose was introduced at half-time in place of Mellis as the Shakers shifted to a 4-4-2 formation.

The substitution proved to be a game-changer as Rose won the ball back in the final third and played in the debutant O'Sullivan whose low cross was slid over the line by the arriving Clarke.

And 85 seconds later Clarke had his second. Danny Mayor's stinging 25-yard drive was kept out by Etheridge down to his right but the forward was on hand to tap-in his second in as many minutes.

Clarke had the chance to wrap up his hat-trick late on when played through by Rose but his top-poke came back off the post before Mayor lashed the rebound over.

The Shakers threw everything they had at Walsall in the final minutes but the visitor's clung on to secure a crucial three points.