BURY boss Andy Preece was surprisingly upbeat following a defeat saw the Shakers hit bottom in Division Two.

Bury sunk to their eighth successive defeat but Preece, on being quizzed as to whether he felt any pressure, said: "We are playing much, much better than we were, say against Swindon.

"In the last three games we have played good football and made enough chances to have won each game.

"We keep getting caught on the break, but our luck will change.

"We hit the post, missed free headers, had stuff cleared from the line.

"You have to look at the bigger picture, since I took over 18 months ago we have lost a lot of quality players, we have trimmed a million pounds from the wages bill.

"But we have a lot of young players who will be worth a lot of money. If we can keep them together we will be fantastic."

However, a first half strike from Stoke's Jurgen Vandeurzen, who handed his side the lead after 32 minutes, proved enough to undo the Shakers on this occasion.

RESULT: BURY...0 STOKE...1