SHAKERS' boss Graham Barrow has described striker Dave Nugent's current form as 'frightening'.

The 19-year-old striker has seven goals to his name already, and although he wasn't on the scoresheet in the 1-1 draw at Leyton Orient on Saturday he put in another top drawer display.

But the rave reviews the young Scouser is receiving are also alerting would-be predators and that's something that's very much in the back of the mind of the Bury manager.

"Dave is on fire at the moment and his form is frightening," said Barrow.

"Nothing has been said to me but you've got to expect that someone will be looking at him very closely.

"At the moment he is our passport to a little bit of success and we want to keep it that way."

This season Nugent has added physical strength to the pace and skill he's always had, and he's terrorising opposition defences who are struggling to deal with him.

Barrow's views are echoed by defender Colin Woodthorpe who knows all about Nugent from the training ground.

Woodthorpe, who has played in Europe and at the highest level in the domestic game, knows what is required to reach the top and there's no doubt in his mind that Nugent has what it takes.

"David is absolutely on top of his game at the moment," he said.

"He's ripping people apart, left right and centre. He has pace and ability and now power too, not many defenders can handle him.

"After having a rough patch last year he is clearly enjoying his football and I would have thought a few people are keeping tabs on him now."

Barrow also had praise for central defender Danny Swailes who played at Brisbane Road despite a recurrence of tonsilitis.

"Danny was fantastic for us considering he was ill," he added.

"We had to ask him if he'd give it a go and he said he would.

"He came out of the whole 90 minutes very well."

Nevertheless, the manager was far from happy with an uncharacteristic slow start at Orient.

"That's the first time in 12 games we haven't been at the races in the first half," he said.

"I'd have settled for a point at half time but in the end I was disappointed we haven't won.

"But the response from the players in the second half was typical of us.

"It's the kind of game we were losing in September, I liked the way the players pulled it around, especially Dwayne Mattis and Brian Barry-Murphy who weren't having the best of games early on."

Barrow also believes that the performance of goalkeeper Glyn Garner on Saturday will benefit him.

The Welshman pulled off two superb saves late in the game to secure a point for his side.

"That will do Glyn the world of good," he said.

"It was important he kept his concentration at a time when we were dominating the game.

"His all round game was better after having a bit of an indifferent time of it.

"He's a great lad with a fantastic attitude and he'll always come through any spell like that."

SHAKERS' boss Graham Barrow has described striker Dave Nugent's current form as 'frightening'.

The 19-year-old striker has seven goals to his name already, and although he wasn't on the scoresheet in the 1-1 draw at Leyton Orient on Saturday he put in another top drawer display.

But the rave reviews the young Scouser is receiving are also alerting would-be predators and that's something that's very much in the back of the mind of the Bury manager.

"Dave's on fire at the moment and his form is frightening," said Barrow.

"Nothing has been said to me but you've got to expect that someone will be looking at him very closely.

"At the moment he is our passport to a little bit of success and we want to keep it that way."

This season Nugent has added strength to the pace and skill he's always had and he's terrorising opposition defences who are struggling to deal with him.

Barrow's views are echoed by defender Colin Woodthorpe who knows all about Nugent from the training ground.

Woodthorpe, who has played at the highest level in the domestic game and in Europe, knows what is required to reach the top and there's no doubt in his mind that he has what it takes.

"David is absolutely on top of his game at the moment," he said.

"He's ripping people apart, left right and centre. He has pace and ability and now power too, not many defenders can handle him.

"After having a rough patch last year he is clearly enjoying his football and I would have thought a few people are keeping tabs on him now."

Barrow also had praise for central defender Danny Swailes who played at Brisbane Road despite a recurrence of tonsilitis.

"Danny was fantastic for us considering he was ill," he added.

"We had to ask him if he'd give it a go and he said he would.

"He came out of the whole 90 minutes very well."

But the manager was far from happy with an unsatisfactory first half showing at Orient.

"That's the first time in 12 games we haven't been at the races in the first half," he said.

"I'd have snatched a point at half time but in the end I'm disappointed we haven't won.

"But the response from the players in the second half was typical of us.

"It's the kind of game we were losing in September, I liked the way the players pulled it around, especially Dwayne Mattis and Brian Barry-Murphy who weren't having the best of games early on."

Barrow also believes that the performance of goalkeeper Glyn Garner on Saturday will benefit him.

The Welshman pulled off two superb saves late in the game to secure a point for his side.

"That will do Glyn the world of good," he said.

"It was important he kept his concentration at a time when we were dominating the game.

"His all round game was better after having a bit of an indifferent time of it.

"He's a great lad with a fantastic attitude and he'll always come through any spell like that."