BURY face a tough festive campaign with two testing away fixtures.

Saturday's 1-1 draw with Blackpool is followed by games at Wigan Athletic on Boxing Day and at Swindon Town on Saturday 29.

Both matches are difficult but the rewards for winning will be huge.

Both teams lie just above Bury in the league and a couple of victories, or even four points from the two games, would see the Shakers make big strides in heading towards mid-table safety and away from the relegation zone.

Two defeats however and the pressure will be right back on Andy Preece's side.

"They are both very tricky matches but the league is so tight that it is a real chance for us to move up," acknowledged the manager.

"I saw Wigan recently against Notts County and I feel there are are one or two areas we can exploit but it won't be easy because they have been spending a lot of money lately.

"As for Swindon we were really poor when we played there last season, probably our worst performance of the season. We'll be be looking to put that right."

The Swindon game was indeed a diabolical performance as Bury went one down within minutes of kicking off and ended up on the wrong side of a hammering.

Preece was stung by press criticism after that performance and will be hoping to prove that his team have improved since then.

The final match of Bury's Christmas period takes place on New Year's Day when Wrexham visit Gigg Lane.

That too is a huge match as Wrexham are languishing at the foot of the table, a team Bury should expect to beat if they are to climb away from danger.