SHAKERS' survival battle has been boosted by a string of comebacks ahead of the crucial visit of Port Vale on Saturday.

No fewer than four first team stars returned to competitive action in Bury reserves' 3-2 win at league leaders Grimsby in midweek, with Matt Barrass, Bhaichung Bhutia, Chris Billy and Nicky Hill all emerging unscathed.

Bhutia and Barrass have been out for the better part of six months, both struggling with cruciate ligament damage, while Billy was sidelined with a stomach injury and Hill suffered a knock to his ankle in training last week.

Now all four are back in action to boost Bury's late season battle to escape the drop.

And manager Andy Preece said he was delighted to be getting some key players back fit again.

"They are all working their way back to fitness again," he said.

"Chris Billy should be back available for the first team in the next couple of weeks. Bhaichung might take another week or two after that.

"We will have to take our time with Matt Barras but it's great to see that they are all on their way back and they should play some part before the end of the season.

"This is a massive time for the club and the good news is that, apart from Easter, we only have one game a week. That gives all our players coming back from injury a bit more time to regain their fitness. With suspensions coming up, it's going to be critical to have as many players fit as possible."

Preece said the team's morale had not been dented by the defeat which dropped them into the relegation zone.

"The mood in the camp has been good," he said.

"We were disappointed that we didn't play as well as we know we can in the first half at Brighton. We showed in the second half that there was more to come from us and I'm proud of the way they reacted to going a man down.

"Now we are in the bottom four but we still feel like our survival is in our own hands. We've still got to play Northampton and that's going to be a key game for us.

"All our home games will be crucial to whether we stay up or not. I'm positive that we will do it. We have shown a lot of bottle throughout this season and it would be nice to end it still in Division Two."