BURY PREVIEW
INTRODUCTION
Brentford are back on the road this weekend as they travel to Greater Manchester to take on Bury.
The Bees go into the game in a positive frame of mind after picking up their first win of the season at home to Barnet last week and sit sixth in the embryonic League Two table.
Their hosts started the season with a fine 2-1 win at well-fancied Milton Keynes Dons but, after losing 1-0 to Carlisle United in the Carling Cup, have failed to win since, drawing 1-1 with Grimsby Town at Gigg Lane before losing at Wycombe Wanderers last week.
And the draw with Grimsby was no real surprise at Bury have failed to win at home since December 16 last year, a record they will be looking to put right.
Below you can see the Bees fans at Bury in April 2002...will you be there on Saturday?
BURY RECENT HISTORY
This is The Shakers sixth season back in the fourth tier of the Football League after relegation in 2002.
Relegation marked the end of a remarkable rise and fall at Gigg Lane which saw them go from the old Division Three to Division One in consecutive seasons and back almost as quickly.
It also came in the middle of an off-pitch situation which saw the club on the verge of extinction.
Bury had bobbed around in the lower reaches of the league for a long period before an inspired spell under Stan Ternant which saw them rise from 23rd in October to win Division Three in 1995/96 and follow that up by winning the Division Two title the following year.
They managed to survive for one season but, following Ternant's departure in the summer of 1998, were relegated on goals scored, and by just one goal, in 1999.
With the financial situation worsening, and the club put up for sale by The High Court in the middle of the 2000/01 season The Shakers managed to keep their heads above water on and off the pitch until March 2002.
The club was placed into administration at that point and relegated a month later but was saved by supporters, albeit a league lower.
They almost bounced straight back but lost in the play-offs and haven't come close since, finishing in their lowest ever league position in consecutive seasons from 2004/05, culminating in a 21st placed finish last season.
They will be looking to build on that this season and have brought in former Lincoln City manager Keith Alexander (seen on the left) as Director of Football to help manager Chris Casper.
BRENTFORD TEAM NEWS
Brentford will definitely be without Lee Thorpe for the game at Gigg Lane after the experienced striker was sent off 45 minutes into his Brentford debut last week.
The Bees will be hoping Alan Connell and Charlie Ide are fit in Thorpe's absence, Connell has missed the last two matches with a groin injury and Ide was stretchered off in Brentford's 2-1 win over Barnet last week.
Simon Brown and Craig Pead, who were on the bench last week after returning from injury, will be a week closer to full fitness.
BURY TEAM NEWS
Casper (seen left) has kept a fairly settled line-up so far this season with ten of his players having started all three league games.
One player who hasn't started yet this season but may do so on Saturday is Andy Bishop (pictured left).
He came off the bench to score twice at MK Dons on the opening day of the season and was the subject of a transfer bid from Crewe Alexandra earlier this week.
The Shakers turned down the move for the former York City striker, who scored 20 goals last season, and he is expected to start up front with experienced striker Glynn Hurst and former Preston North End youngster Nicky Adams.
Former Hartlepool United goalkeeper Jim Provett is likely to be between Bury's sticks while former Lincoln man Ben Futcher (far left) and long throw expert Dave Challinor (left) are likely to feature in a back five.
LAST MEETINGS
Brentford were last at Gigg Lane on Easter Monday in 2002 when they slipped to a 2-0 defeat.
The promotion-chasing Bees were in a battle with Reading for a top-two spot, which the Berkshire side ultimately won, while The Shakers were on their way to relegation.
But a brace from experienced winger Chris Billy handed a below-par and exhausted Brentford side a crucial late season defeat.
The Bees had won the previous meeting that season 5-1 at Griffin Park with two goals from Lloyd Owusu, two penalties from Paul Gibbs and a Ben Burgess strike for the home side.
Brentford last won at Gigg Lane in January 2001, thanks to another Owusu goal, and have only lost once in Greater Manchester since October 1988.
MEMORABLE MEETINGS
There aren't many Brentford fans that will remember but The Bees recorded one of their highest ever victories in a game against Bury in February 1949.
The game was the first in charge for new player-manager Jackie Gibbons and he scored one of the goals in an 8-2 win, which equalled the club's biggest at the time.
However the star of the show was Peter McKennan, who got five of Brentford's eight, equalling the most ever scored by a Bees player in one game.
Bury got a measure of revenge in September 1960 when they thumped The Bees 5-1 at Griffin Park but the game many Shakers' fans will remember was on Easter Saturday 1997.
Both teams were seeking promotion when they met in west London but the visitors came out on top thanks to goals from Nick Daws and Mark Carter and went on to the Division Two title.
PLAYED FOR BOTH
In a strange quirk of fate two of the players who appeared for both Bury and Brentford were part of one of the most revered Bees' teams.
Andy Feeley (top right) and Roger Stanislaus (bottom right) were Brentford's full backs in the 1988/89 season when the Third Division side embarked on a remarkable FA Cup run that saw them beat Manchester City and Blackburn Rovers, at Ewood Park, before losing to eventual winners Liverpool at Anfield.
And after leaving Griffin Park both headed to Gigg Lane, Feeley stayed at Bury for a number of years moving into the youth set-up and being hailed as the man responsible for finding England striker David Nugent.
Stanislaus moved on to Leyton Orient after five years and was later suspended from the game after failing a drugs test.
Other players to have appeared for both teams include Stan Bowles, who had a spell on loan at Gigg Lane, full back Bill Gorman, who moved from Bury to Griffin Park and played for The Bees either side of World War Two, and central defender Alan Whitehead.
ODDS
The bookmakers can't split the teams for Saturday's match with both Brentford and Bury listed at 6/4 to take all three points.
Beesbet offer 9/4 on Brentford recording another draw while a 1-1 draw, to match Brentford's only away league result and Bury's only home league result, is 11/2.
Both teams are even money to open the scoring with Bishop 6/1 favourite to notch the first goal.
Connell, Ide and Hurst are all 7/1 while Kevin O'Connor, who has scored the first goal in Brentford's last two matches, and John Mousinho are both 25/1.
ANDY SCOTT'S THOUGHTS
Brentford assistant manager Andy Scott said the team would be prepared and ready for the challenge when they visit Gigg Lane on Saturday.
Scott, speaking exclusively to the official website, said the players will be aware of what The Shakers have to offer and have worked on how to combat the Lancashire outfit.
"We have sent people to watch them and we know their strengths and weaknesses," said Scott. "It is important each time we concentrate on ourselves but we make an effort to know about our opponents.
"Bury haven't got a good home record and they say they are treating it like an away game and want to think they are playing away to try and get a result.
"Keith Alexander has gone in there and he has a proven record, he knows what players to bring in.
"It will be a tough game and we have worked on how we will play.
"We have been refreshing the players on how we will play and we will be prepared, no doubt."
