BURY AFC boss Andy Welsh insists his side’s debut season should not be stopped in its tracks.

The phoenix club have managed just one North West Counties First Division North game so far, a dramatic win over Steeton, and are due to host AFC Darwen at the Neuven Stadium on Saturday.

But with games being called off across non-league, and to a lesser extent in the professional game, amid the rising Covid-19 infection rates, the NWCL are petitioning their clubs on what to do next.

An email sent out on Tuesday evening asked whether clubs wanted to pause action until the end of October, suspend games for clubs in ‘tier 3’ lockdowns or continue with the campaign.

AFC, who saw their game against Pilkington on Wednesday night called off, favour the latter and Welsh is desperate to play on.

“It’s been hard work,” the former Sunderland winger said.

“If they were to suspend it, my players have been in with us around 10 weeks now and I put quite a demanding schedule in place with a view to the season going ahead.

“We played in the FA Vase which was probably a couple of weeks too early from where we started but we were ready to go at the start of the season and we’ve only played one game.

“I think a team like Golcar has played four games and we’ve only played one.

“Surely they can look at it and say that the sides who’ve played games could have a couple of weeks off and others could catch games up.

“I don’t know, is that an option? Or can we reverse fixtures?

“I think we talked about reversing the Pilkington game but I’m not sure what was said.

“It’s a tough one and I’ve not really got the answer but whether they are volunteer roles or not you’ve still got to treat it as a big appointment if you’re in charge of these fixtures.

“The players are raring to go and it would be a shame it is was to be suspended.

“What was the point of starting if we do?”

Welsh is also concerned about the wider issues if the season is brought to an abrupt halt.

“I’m massive on the mental side of the game and I just feel there’s isn’t enough thought going into, not just men’s football but for people in general, where everyone’s at with Covid at the moment,” he said.

“Exercise is a massive thing and it can be running around or it can be having a chat with someone and exercising your brain and engaging.

“For me that’s a big part of being in a community and I said at the start of lockdown that mental health would be a huge issue around Covid.”