INJURY-ravaged Shakers have suffered another body blow ahead of their vital clash with Doncaster.

After two miserable defeats against Boston and Mansfield, Bury are desperate to return to winning ways at Gigg Lane to halt their worrying slide towards the Division Three basement.

Their threadbare squad has been pulled and stretched to breaking point from the opening day of the campaign, and now key midfielder Ben Thornley has added to manager Andy Preece's selection headache by picking up a groin injury.

"Ben's got a strain and hasn't trained all week. He's a 50-50 hope of playing tomorrow. We will have to see how he progresses," said Preece.

"It would be a shame to lose him because he's done all right since joining us this season. He's one of the players we could really do with being fit and ready."

To make matters worse, fellow midfielders Terry Dunfield and George Clegg are hardly ripping up trees in their comeback bids.

Clegg's injured knee has flared up again, while Dunfield's fitness is still a concern, despite coming through 90 minutes for the reserves.

"Cleggy's had a setback just as he was getting close to training with us again," said Preece.

"That means he will be out for another couple of weeks at least.

"Terry's still a good bit away from first team football and then we've got Matty Barrass and Steve Gunby, who haven't trained all week."

The Rovers fixture is the magic tenth match of the campaign -- the point which Preece had pinpointed as a true barometer of Shakers' start to the season.

And the manager knows the result will have a major bearing on how the start to the campaign is judged.

Victory should lift them back into the hunt for a play-off place.

"I'm sure we have a squad capable of competing for promotion," said Preece. "We are only four points off the play-offs and we've got two home games back-to-back now. A couple of wins will really lift our confidence."