DAVE McNabb insists ‘consistency is key’ as he challenged his Bury players to keep on improving.

The Shakers boss was disappointed with Tuesday’s performance in the 1-0 win against Squires Gates especially as Saturday’s superb 4-0 win against Wythenshawe Town - where Joe Duckworth scored a hat-trick on his debut - saw them move back to the top of NWCL Premier Division.

Bury head to promotion-chasing West Didsbury and Chorlton on Saturday and McNabb says his players know they must do better.

“I said before the game (on Tuesday) that consistency is key and I said that after Saturday’s game,” he told the club website. “We still haven’t quite got there yet. Lots of work to do.

“West Didsbury and Chorlton are a good club, a really good side.

“So there is no doubt that we have got to be better. We will regroup and will get ready for what is going to be a really, really tough game.”

Having stormed to victory on Saturday against Wythenshawe Town, where Andrew Scarisbruck was also on target, the Shakers made hard work of beating Squires Gate with Benito Lowe scoring the only goal of the game.

“After Saturday’s performance, I was really disappointed,” added McNabb. “It’s not necessarily about the scoreline all the time, it is about the performance. What we said to the players is that as a group - staff, players, the club as a whole - we can’t afford to be going in to the last five, 10 minutes of game where we are rolling the dice and the game is in the balance.”