SATURDAY'S win at Exeter didn't move the Shakers any further up the table but that didn't surprise boss Andy Preece one bit.

There's no-one more aware of just how tight the Third Division promotion chase is and he's certain the battle for elevation will go right to the death.

Four points separate the eight teams from third to tenth with Bournemouth currently sitting pretty in the coveted third place.

But Preece is also sure that five more results like the one at St James's Park on Saturday would be enough for automatic promotion.

It's a tall order and the Shakers chief is only looking at one game at a time starting with Saturday's visit of Carlisle United.

"It's so hard in this league," he said. "You can guarantee when we win all our rivals seem to win and when we lose so do they.

"We are used to it now and I reckon that's the way it will be until the final match of the season.

"I hate using cliches but it really is all about concentrating on one game at a time.

"We haven't set a target but when you get to the 60 point mark with five games to go you know you have a chance.

"Obviously the Scunthorpe and Wrexham matches will be important and if we win those our destiny will be in our own hands.

"That's as much as you can ask when you reach this stage of the season.

"We just want to be in there at the end, everyone at the club does, our fans have worked so hard to keep the club going and we want to reward them for that."

The first half display at Exeter was one of the best of the season and Preece is hoping his side can now string together a sequence of results that would propel them to automatic promotion.

And he believes the form of Jon Newby and his fellow forwards could be all-important over the final five games.

"I really enjoyed watching us for the first 35 minutes on Saturday," he added.

"We were irresistible and it was good to see things we'd worked at on the training pitch coming off.

"We have played like that in spells in a lot of games this season then gone off the boil and been punished for it.

"The difference on Saturday is that we scored two goals, the second was very important to us."

It was also important for the scorer - Newby - who hadn't found the net since the home match against Kidderminster on December 28 last year.

Although Newby's game is a lot more than just scoring there's nothing a striker likes better than making the net ripple and Preece is hoping there more of the same to come.

"It's massive for Jon to be back scoring, as it is for all our strikers to get back on the sheet because ultimately it is them who are going to get us promoted.

"Not too many goals have been coming from the forward players recently, in fact the only one who has scored is Colin Cramb, so it's important they start putting the ball in the net, especially with Pav Abbott going back to Preston."