IT'S three games to the end of a traumatic season, but there is still plenty to keep Graham Barrow's Shakers on their toes.

With contracts to be played for, and the spectre of finishing in their worst ever league position still to occupy the mind, there's no way the Gigg Lane men will be allowed to take their foot off the gas.

Worries about relegation to the Nationwide Conference were effectively despatched this week, with bottom club Carlisle United now unable to overhaul Bury's total of 52 points after a defeat last weekend.

A 2-1 midweek home reverse for second-bottom York City - at the hands of Yeovil - also means that the Minstermen would have to win all their remaining three games to reach that total.

The Shakers would also have to lose their trio of matches, and then there's the small matter of City having to overturn a colossal 17-goal disadvantage.

Yet, despite having the relegation Sword of Damocles removed from over their heads, there are one or two other points that need addressing.

With half the first team squad out of contract at the end of the season there ought to be no room for complacency, and without a doubt Barrow and assistant boss Kelham O'Hanlon will be monitoring performances as they plan ahead for next season.

There's also a niggling concern about the club's finishing position.

They currently lie fourteenth in the Division Three table, that's one place above the worst ever finish, when Jim Iley's side ended the 1983-84 campaign in fifteenth place, in what was then Division Four.

Professional pride will dictate that the current squad of players won't want to go down in history as leaving the team in it's lowest-ever league slot, so a three point haul against Saturdayt's visitors Bristol Rovers would be timely indeed.