MILLIONAIRE boxing promoter Barry Hearn brings his Leyton Orient side to Gigg Lane on Saturday in the first of two crucial home games in the space of four days.

And there couldn't be a better time for the Shakers to find their Gigg Lane knockout punch after a number of disappointing results on home soil.

Boss Andy Preece remains unfazed despite seeing his charges slip out of the automatic promotion slots this week.

A draw at Torquay was enough to keep them in the top three last weekend only for wins by Bournemouth and Torquay to dump them down to fifth place before tomorrow's visit of Orient.

But, with their game in hand to come against Oxford United midweek, Preece is not worrying about the day-to-day alterations to the Division Three table.

"You can't do anything about other teams' results. We've just got to worry about what we can do," he said.

"We're still level on points with the two teams above us and the league is still very open. There are a lot of teams battling away for a shot at promotion.

"So all we can do is keep fighting and now we've got a great opportunity to break into the top three with two home games in the next few days."

Orient have blown hot and cold all season but are known to be bad travellers and currently sit in a lowly 16th position.

And if Bury can build on the sheer determination and fighting spirit shown in their last two outings, they should have their opponents on the ropes for most of the game.

Their last defeat at Kidderminster was followed by a stirring fightback at Cambridge, where two goals in the last ten minutes secured a 2-1 win, and a brave result at Torquay after having two men sent off.

Now Preece wants more of the same to keep them in the hunt for automatic promotion.

"They've been fantastic, really. I just couldn't ask for any more off the players," he said.

"The performance at Kidderminster was unacceptable and the players knew it. We had a long time without a game after that and did a lot of hard work before going to Cambridge, where we did great to come back from 1-0 down.

"Then the spirit showed to hold on to a draw with only nine men at Torquay was incredible. If we can combine that spirit with some decent football then we will have a great run."

Terry Dunfield's red card for a handball at Torquay seemed particularly harsh, with Shakers goalkeeper Glyn Garner tipping a shot on to the midfielder's arm.

But Preece said he would not be appealing against his automatic suspension, which will keep him sidelined for next week's clash with sixth-placed York City.

"I did speak to the referee afterwards and he's had another look at the incident," he said.

"But he still feels it was a sending off so there's no point appealing.

"He also thought Danny Swailes deserved his second booking so we will miss him for those two games next week. But we've got plenty of cover, so we should be okay."

The only injury doubt apart from long term victims Matty Barrass and Simon Whaley is Ian Lawson (ankle) who only trained for the first time yesterday.

Meanwhile the Shakers home fans will be getting their first view of Colin Cramb since his return to the club after a two year absence.