LIAM MacDevitt insists Bury AFC want to finish what they started – and believes it will be well worth the wait.

The attacker was as frustrated as anyone when the North West Counties League was declared null and void last month.

Now MacDevitt is looking forward to returning to action and this time he wants it to be in front of a bumper crowd at the Neuven Stadium.

“Whenever the new season starts, hopefully in August some time, it would be great to be able to run out in front of 1,500 fans,” said the 27-year-old.

“That would be incredible. It has been a really frustrating time for everyone involved at the club but to be able to play in front of a full house would go some way to making up for it.”

AFC played just seven league games before the decision was made to scrap all ‘non-elite’ football for the second successive season.

Their last game, a 3-2 win over Chadderton on Boxing Day, saw them move to the top of NWCL First Division North.

MacDevitt said the phoenix club was just getting in to its stride before its first ever campaign was halted prematurely.

But the former Stalybridge Celtic player says the squad assembled by manager Andy Welsh want to see the job through.

“We hit top spot and were finding our feet in that division,” added MacDevitt. “It’s a shame as we were just getting in to our stride and it all ended.

“It’s a great squad, they are a great bunch of lads and as far as I know everyone is determined to see the job through.

“This was always going to be a long-term project but it just means that, due to circumstances out of our control, we are now a year behind.”

MacDevitt may well have not been playing had the season continued as he fractured his wrist in AFC’s last training session before football was stopped.

He is currently awaiting an operation which has been put on hold after he contracted coronavirus – ending his 10-day isolation this week.

“If I was going to injure myself, I suppose this was the time to do it,” added MacDevitt. “It was just bad luck that I did it in what turned out to be our last training session.”

Regarding the season being declared null and void, MacDevitt believes the situation could have been handled better and at at a much higher level.

“I think as soon as you put it in the hands of the clubs then you are going to get different answers,” he said. “Only the top sides with something to play for wanted to carry on and.I think it might have caused a bit of resentment between those clubs who wanted to carry on and those that didn’t.

"So that decision should have been made higher up and there should have been more leadership and a decision should have been made earlier.”