GRAHAM Barrow's Shakers aim to prove last Saturday's 5-1 mauling at Grimsby was a blip when Chester City are the visitors to Gigg Lane on Saturday.

The Bury boss and his assistant Kelham O'Hanlon have been working hard with the players all week to eradicate the defensive errors that littered the second half at Blundell Park.

That defeat cast a shadow over a bright start for the Gigg Lane side after an opening day 3-1 home victory over fancied Yeovil Town and a creditable 2-2 draw at Bristol Rovers - the latter with ten men.

It was evergreen defender Colin Woodthorpe who received his marching orders down in the west country and his absence, through suspension, was clearly missed last weekend.

Thankfully, he only received a one match ban and will be straight back into tomorrow's team against his former club.

"There were certain aspects in the second half last week that we hadn't seen in the previous two games, or even in the first half of that game," said Barrow.

"There was a lack of strength and defensive nous at the back but that's not an excuse.

"We've pointed out one or two things in training and hopefully will have put it right.

"A scout watching last week said to Kelham that while we were playing football Grimsby were scoring goals. That summed it up to me.

"It just shows you can be heavily punished in this league if you are not on your game."

There are a number of Chester connections in the Bury set-up at present, with Barrow a great fans' favourite as a player and promotion-winning manager at the Deva Stadium.

The Shakers' physio-coach Joe Hinnigan is another former Chester stalwart, while Dave Flitcroft and, as mentioned earlier Woodthorpe, both plied their trade by the Dee, while skipper Dave Challinor is Chester born and bred.

But after a terrific Nationwide Conference title-winning season last year it's been a traumatic return to the Football League for the Seals.

A well-publicised bust-up with the board on the eve of the new campaign saw boss Mark Wright leave the club 24 hours before the first game.

Team affairs have been temporarily taken over by former Tranmere Rovers and Wigan Athletic boss Ray Mathias, who only saw the team in one pre-season game.

A somewhat fortuitous 1-1 draw at Notts County on the opening day was followed by a 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Tony Adams' Wycombe Wanderers side, and last week they slumped to another home reverse when Mansfield Town were 3-0 victors down Bumpers Lane.

To be fair, they haven't been helped by a crop of injuries to key strikers Daryl Clare (hernia), Darryn Stamp (knee) and Andy Watson (knee).

On paper it looks a good opportunity for the Shakers to bounce back with a good win but Barrow is taking nothing for granted.

"My main concern is how we approach the game," he explained.

"We have to get back to being more positive when we get in front.

"After winning well at home we were ahead in both the following away games yet only picked up one point from them.

"Looking at the tough three game start some people might think I'd be happy with four points but I'm not - we should have picked up more.

"We've scored six goals in those three matches and if someone said you'd average two goals a game for the season you'd be delighted.

"Macclesfield have scored six goals and are top but it's the goals against column you have to look at.

"We need to defend as a team, some things should be stopped higher up the pitch before it gets to the back players."

On the personnel front, apart from centre-back Danny Swailes (thigh) Barrow has a clean bill of health with striker Graeme Jones back in contention after missing out last week.

And the news on Swailes is improving with the big defender back in training much to his manager's delight.

"It's been pleasing to see him back running and kicking a ball again," he said.

"He won't be ready for the Chester game but we'll see how he progresses."

Following tomorrow's game, Coca Cola Championship neighbours Burnley visit Gigg on Tuesday in the Carling Cup then there's the small matter of a trip to Spotland the following Saturday to take on local rivals Rochdale.

"There's a big week coming up for us but the main thing is getting another three points on the board tomorrow," added Barrow.

"We have to remember our last home game when we got a great result from a good performance.

"Over the 90 minutes we fully deserved that win against a strong team.

"We'll continue to encourage the lads to play good football, I don't want to get away from that, but we'll tighten it up as a team."

Kick-off at Gigg Lane is 3pm.