FANS of Bury FC will need to double their efforts or watch their club go to the wall, insists disappointed manager Andy Preece writes Chris Hall

Shakers have until March 15 to raise the £400,000 needed to keep them in business until the end of the season.

And their supporters seemed to have risen to the challenge, with a crowd of 7,953 creating a rousing atmosphere at Gigg Lane for the 1-1 draw with Oldham on Tuesday - one of the best attendances since they dropped out of the First Division three years ago.

But Preece claimed the figure was misleading and that a lack of away support for Saturday's visit of Notts County will leave them wanting by several thousand supporters.

"We have to hold our hands up to Oldham," he said.

"They brought 3,200 fans with them. But that means we only had 4,700 from Bury and that's still a concern.

"Notts County won't bring many up on Saturday so, if the same Bury fans turn up again, we'll only get around 5,000. We still need more than that, so I was a little bit disappointed really.

"We are going to need a lot more than 4,700 of our own supporters this weekend and the town of Bury has to get behind us."

Preece has claimed many outside the club are not taking their plight seriously and slammed Bury council for not taking an active role in helping the 117-year-old organisation.

"We aren't messing about here. This isn't enough," he said.

"If we could get six or seven thousand fans on, that would give us a massive chance but that's the only way we can generate cash because there's no market for selling a player at the moment.

"The council won't help us. They seem to want to see us go. Everyone else is pulling in one direction but the council are pulling the opposite way. We aren't asking for a great deal, just something to help us through. But apparently things like putting more speed cameras up are more important."

One of the few plus points for Shakers fans has been the encouraging reaction of the players who are bravely fighting to keep their heads above the relegation zone, knowing they may not even have the luxury of completing their remaining fixtures.

"You can't be disappointed when we've got four points from our last two games, with all this uncertainty hanging over the club. It's a miracle we have done as well as we have," said Preece.

"When you look at where we have come from, we have done really well to be where we are. But there's still a lot of work to do and it's going to take more performances like Tuesday night's to see us through."