ANDY Preece will be hoping one of his injured dynamos can come back in the nick of time to help Bury kick-start their stuttering season.

Shakers are already looking stretched to the limit through the middle, with key playmakers Terry Dunfield and George Clegg long-term absentees.

Now tough ball-winner Paul O'Shaughnessy has added to Preece's midfield misery by picking up a fifth booking of the season to rule him out of the trip to Torquay next week.

Chances of snapping up a cheap stop gap appear to have disappeared despite the manager's protestations.

Chairman Albert Doweck has echoed his view that the squad is short on numbers, but is unwilling to release any more cash, claiming the club can not afford to attract any players of higher quality than they already possess.

So Preece will be left to chop and change his formation yet again unless Dunfield or Clegg -- both now within sight of a comeback after returning to full training -- can win the race to regain match fitness.

Shakers badly need a boost after the 1-0 defeat to lowly Boston United left them struggling in the bottom half of Division Three.

And Preece admits his side's lack of form is baffling him after some impressive work on the training ground.

"There was no reaction from our players again. You would not believe the difference in them from the training ground to on the pitch," he said.

"We have got to be brave when we get on the pitch. They did ever so well on the training ground and everything is positive, but as soon as we go over that white line on match day, it disappears.

"We lacked energy and we were on our back foot. We don't seem to be positive enough. It's tough but we have got to be braver than that."