In-form Bury and Colchester United meet on Saturday, with The Shakers looking to extend an impressive unbeaten run away from home.
Bury are unbeaten on the road since suffering a 1-0 defeat at League Two champions Burton Albion in January, and won all six of their fixtures in September.
Meanwhile, Colchester boast one of the most impressive home records in the division, having not lost at the Colchester Community Stadium in the league since Crawley Town visited in March.
Bury manager David Flitcroft, who is on the final shortlist for the MBNA North West Manager of the Year Award, suggested that continuing the away streak is on his mind ahead of the Colchester match.
“It’s something to protect, it’s something to be proud of,” he said.
“Absolutely a lot of hard miles have gone into it, you can’t get an away record like that without having fantastic staff.
“But the players, they do really want to protect something.
“We’ve had some tough games and [Colchester] is another tough one.
“The players will know what to expect and they will be fighting for every cause.”
The Shakers’ battled to a mid-week 3-2 win away at Peterborough and a victory over the U’s could see Bury rise to the top of the table if other results go their way.
Following a slow start, Colchester United are climbing up the League One table, after not winning until mid-September.
Tony Humes’ side have now recorded four consecutive victories, leaving them just one point outside the playoff places.
Ahead of the game, the manager said that he expects Colchester’s run of good results to change the approach of their opponents.
“I would imagine as the season goes on if we keep getting the results teams will try to stop us playing,” said Humes.
“Teams will try to push us back, play compact against us, but we can only play what’s in front of us and if we keep performing we’ve got the quality to score goals.”
Image courtesy of Bury FC, via Youtube, with thanks.