Liam MacDevitt is hoping to shake off his ‘super-sub’ tag after scoring in Bury AFC’s 4-3 friendly defeat at Squires Gate.

The forward netted from the bench on Saturday but the 26-year-old knows he has his work cut out to make the starting XI.

He said: “It’s the worst tag in the world isn’t it? ‘Super-sub’, although some people don’t do too bad out of it!

“We’ve got a good squad with Tom Greaves up front, and with only playing one through the middle, I just do what I can for the team. I can’t really say much when he scores as much as he can.”

The former Reading and Yeovil attacker did his best to make his point on the pitch, coming on in the second half with his team facing a 4-1 defeat.

MacDevitt brought them back into the game after robbing a defender before slotting home and helped create a number of chances as Squires Gate looked to hold on.

He said: “I always play the same way – run as much as I can and try and be a pest. I did that today and managed to stick one in the net."

MacDevitt, who is also a journalist, recently fronted a PFA video campaign and spent two years as a presenter on BBC MOTDx. He joined Bury AFC after a playing career that has taken him from the New Zealand top flight to Stalybridge Celtic before dropping down to join Andy Welsh’s side last season.

And playing with his hand in a cast, he added: “It's been a bad six months, what with a broken wrist and Covid, so (I’m) just getting back up to full fitness really.”

Saturday's game was a second trip to Squires Gate for AFC and it was the away side who started the brighter.

Lewis Gilboy has been outstanding in pre-season so far and it was his driving run into the box that drew a foul to give Bury the chance to take the lead after 22 minutes.

The resulting penalty was taken and missed, however, by the usually clinical Tom Greaves. Bury’s leading frontman uncharacteristically side-footed his shot wide, beyond the goalkeeper’s right post.

That miss proved more costly across the next 10 minutes as first Squires Gate went ahead with a penalty before a clever turn and finish inside the box by Dean Ing put the home side two goals up.

It was Gilboy again who brought AFC back into contention, scoring just before the break, before boss Welsh rang the changes in the second half with his side 2-1 down.

MacDevitt was one of the substitutes brought on but it was at the other end where Bury continued to struggle, conceding on 48 minutes and again on the hour to give Gate a 4-1 lead.

His goal got Bury AFC into contention after 75 minutes and an excellent finish by a trialist gave the scoreline a more respectable appearance.

MacDevitt said: “I think we'll win a lot of games, we'll score a lot of late goals.

"So, we just need to sort the first half bit out and work on (our) defensive shape and whatnot.

“But the manager's introduced a different style of play this year, so we've only really had one or two weeks training on that.

“So fingers crossed when that clicks, we've got a really good squad again.”

Bury AFC’s next game is a sell-out as they travel to Broadhurst Park to face fellow fan-owned side, FC United of Manchester, on Saturday.