SHAKERS co-chairman John Smith has urged manager Andy Preece to step-up the blooding of talented youngsters to cut the club's already water-tight wage bill.

Preece is working wonders in the post-administration era at Gigg Lane, utilising loan deals and short-term contracts to form a team of genuine promotion challengers from a purse the size of Bob Cratchett's Christmas bonus.

He is already having to loan players out to ease club funds after attracting Manchester City ace Terry Dunfield to Bury on a permanent deal.

Now Smith, delighted by Preece's handling of the impressive crop of young talent on the fringe of first team football, wants the Shakers supremo to accelerate their development to save on wages.

"We have plenty of players in our squad and plenty of young lads, who I think should be given more of a chance in the first team," said Smith.

"We've got Lee Connell, Nicky Hill, Paul O'Shaughnessy and Matt Barrass isn't playing every game. David Borley is fit again and will want a chance to prove himself.

"Simon Whaley deserves a go and David Nugent has already shown what he can do. The manager is putting them in now and again and he's doing very well in that respect by giving those lads a chance.

"But it would be a big saving if they played all the time, although we wouldn't expect to be promoted straight away."

That is a tough call to make for Smith, who wants success on the field as much as any fan.

But the near-death experience Bury FC suffered at the end of last season has forced him to prioritise financial security above final league placings.

And, for that reason alone, he will be just as excited by the attendance announcement from Gigg Lane's public address system as he will be by any Shakers goals over the festive period.

"The financial situation is improving slowly. We are looking for some decent gates over Christmas to give us a solid start to the new year," he said.