BURY’S fantastic result at home to Sheffield United on Tuesday night should have provided an important lesson for David Flitcroft: pick your most experienced players and they will do the rest.

It was no coincidence that when Peter Clarke, Ryan Lowe and Craig Jones returned to the starting line-up the Shakers produced a performance full or character and fight.

My advice to the manager now is don’t tinker, don’t over think it. If Peter, Ryan and Craig are fit to play again this Saturday then put them in.

Put your trust in them and they will guide the youngsters through what has been a very trying time.

It is also important not to forget the games that have gone before.

If truth be told, there was no better time to play Sheffield United.

As a United fan and a former player, I know the club is in turmoil at the moment.

In the broader scheme of things, Bury should not be doing the double over the Blades, but at present they are a mid-table side and struggling.

Don’t think for a minute that a 1-0 win against them suddenly rights the wrongs of the past few weeks.

Bury were humiliated at Coventry, shipped another six goals to add to the three they conceded at Barnsley the previous week.

They were two pretty shameful performances that cannot be forgotten.

Move away from playing your experienced players and Bury could quite easily come a cropper again very quickly.

Guys like Ryan and Peter will always do a job for you, but it is much harder for them to have an influence in the dressing room if they are not playing week in, week out.

Saying that, Flitcroft is the manager and if he feels it important to make a point by dropping another one of his better players in Chris Hussey, then so be it.

Hussey was hauled off at half time on Saturday and had to be content with a place on the bench on Tuesday night.

The boss had to do something after they shipped four goals in the first half at the Ricoh Arena.

Hussey now faces a test of his own character after Danny Pugh replaced him and did a thoroughly professional job.

It is now up to Hussey, who is a great player but struggling for form and confidence, to show he has the right attitude and temperament to react in the right way.

But while I appreciate Flitcroft has to make a judgement call, he also has to remember not to make his life more difficult than it needs to be.

l Don’t miss Jamie Hoyland’s Marvellous People show on Radio Lancashire between 1-2pm on Saturday.