Bury 0, Wolverhampton 0

MENTION the dreaded R-word anywhere near Neil Warnock and his players over the next few weeks and you're likely to get your backside kicked!

That's the message coming out loud and clear from Gigg Lane as the season enters the crucial home straight.

The Bury boss wants no pessimistic talk of (whisper it) relegation in the dressing room or the training ground - from now on it's positivity all the way.

And a few more spirited performances like they showed against Wolves on Tuesday night should banish for good all talk of a return to Division Two.

The first team squad headed for the Cheltenham Festival on Wednesday and it's to be hoped they enjoyed more luck on the horses than they are currently encountering on the field of play.

A third consecutive goalless draw in successive home matches was scant reward for probably their best, and most positive, display in weeks against a side with genuine play-off ambitions. It's beginning to sound like a well worn record but they just need that "rub of the green" to turn one-pointers into victories.

Buoyed by the debut of new-signing Paul Barnes, Warnock's men gave the Wolves defence a first half battering with a series of quality balls from both flanks.

The eight to nil corner count at the interval told its own story and Mike Stowell in the Midlanders goal must have been a happy man to have reached the half-way stage with a clean sheet to his name.

Time after time the rejuvenated Shakers had the Wolves rearguard at full stretch and if it hadn't been for the resolute Keith Curle and Dean Richards at the heart of the defence the Shakers miserable record of one home league goal since the New Year would have been history.

"If you'd have been a neutral at this game you'd have been hard pressed to say which was a play-off side and which was struggling," said Warnock.

"But I said to the lads before the game the team that we now have, man for man, can beat Wolves.

"We just had to play to our strengths and people were probably surprised just how much we did pass it around."

Former Huddersfield man Barnes, who Wolves boss Colin Lee admitted had been a loan target for the Molineux club, was unlucky to see a header from an inch-perfect Chris Billy cross saved low to Stowell's right after 25 minutes.

But the best chance of the half came from Carl Serrant whose curling corner kick completely bamboozled the Wolverhampton 'keeper but was desperately headed clear off the line by former Manchester City ace Paul Simpson.

Barnes' parnership with Laurent D'Jaffo showed much promise before the Frenchman limped off with a groin strain in the second half and it's as well that the Shakers have a two week break following Saturday's trip to Watford to get their leading scorer fit for the crucial final run-in. Another relative newcomer, Darren Bullock, fizzed a powerful effort just over the bar before D'Jaffo raced onto a neat ball by Daws but saw his angled drive blocked by the overworked Stowell.

Despite the Shakers territorial advantage Wolves' dangerman Robbie Keane showed on a number of occasions just what a threat he can be and really ought to have put his side in front with a free header from a Neil Emblen cross a minute before the break.

Just after the interval a curling ball from the right by Billy just evaded Barnes then after 51 minutes substitute Preece sent Hall away but the Coventry man fired wildly over the angle of bar and post.

Midway through the half Emblen blasted a powerful effort over Dean Kiely's crossbar when well placed but the fact that the first Wolves corner arrived after 70 minutes was testament to the ease in which the Shakers handled the high-flyers.

In the final minute Hall picked out Serrant at the far post with a superb cross but the Newcastle ace appeared to be baulked by a challenge by Serrant

"We've got to go down when we are pushed in the box," said Warnock.

"It would have been a penalty had Carl gone down but for some reason he stayed on his feet.

"That's the difference at this level, we are too nice!"

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