SHAKERS boss Andy Preece faces his most pleasing selection headache yet tomorrow (Saturday) as Bury look to continue their recent resurgence with a victory over Macclesfield.

The shock win at Rushden failed to lift Bury higher than 13th in the Division Three table but tearing a strip off the Silkmen at Gigg Lane could rocket them as high as fourth.

And, with Lenny Johnrose and Terry Dunfield signing new deals this week and Shakers' fledglings clinching a deserved LDV Vans Trophy win at Rochdale in midweek, competition for places could not be more fierce.

Preece now faces the age-old dilemma of whether to stick with his tried and tested stars or gamble on injecting more young blood into his starting line-up.

"It's nice to have that problem," he admits.

"I was very proud of the way the young lads played at Rochdale and they're giving me a real problem now. The delight on their faces after the win was great to see and it's fantastic to have that enthusiasm around us."

The most intriguing selection quandry for Preece lies in the midfield, where he has a wealth of talent to choose from.

Presuming he sticks by his wing back policy, he can perm any three central players from Johnrose, Dunfield, Chris Billy, Martyn Forrest, Lee Connell, Liam George and youngster Paul O'Shaughnessy, who did his cause no harm with a confident and mistake-free performance at Spotland.

The midfield battler has been frustratingly left warming the bench since making a promising debut against Chesterfield in last season's LDV Vans Trophy.

But his midweek performance has pushed him to the forefront of Preece's selection process - a fact which has the lifelong Bury fan pinching himself.

"It was just brilliant to be wearing the Bury jersey - and especially to win in a derby match while doing it," he said.

"It's going to be very hard to break through into the first team. It's frustrating but all I can do is keep plugging away."

The Town clash will be sandwiched by two cup draws involving Shakers - the LDV Vans Trophy and the FA Cup first round.

But, while their knockout successes are worthy morale boosters, O'Shaughnessy's level headed approach to the season as a whole is typical of the entire Bury squad.

"The most important thing is to get out of this league," he said.

"I don't think we belong here and, if we play like we can do, we will get back into Division Two. We are still only four points behind Bournemouth and we just have to make sure we are in contention at Christmas."