SHAKERS hitman Jon Newby has been told to get selfish ahead of tonight's LDV Vans Trophy clash against Notts County at Gigg Lane.

Bury manager Andy Preece believes his star man could have had a hatful of goals by now if he was not so unselfish.

Newby has been playing out of his skin but spends most of his time as provider rather than scorer.

It happened again on Saturday when Newby caused havoc with his running on the flanks and supplied the cross which led to Lee Unsworth's opening goal.

But Preece wants the former Liverpool man to start putting himself before others.

"He runs his socks off but I've told him he's got to be greedier," admitted the manager.

"Sometimes he's looking to put other people in. If he keeps doing that he isn't going to get the amount of goals he deserves. If it's a 50-50 ball then I'd rather him have a shot. I think he should only pass it if we've got a lad free in the middle for an easy tap in.

"But his workrate is phenomenal and the goals will come."

Notts County will be a stern test for Preece' side and the manager believes it will be a big test for his defence.

After the 5-1 thrashing at Brentford seven days ago, Preece accused the back line of not standing up to the challenge.

He responded by dropping Michael Nelson and George Syros for the visit of Peterborough on Saturday and was delighted with the performance of replacements Sam Collins and Danny Swailes.

"They played really well on Saturday but it will be interesting how we handle the two big lads up front for Notts County tonight," added Preece. "Peterborough's front two were small and fast. We did well against them but we need to prove we can do it against different types of strikers."

Paul Reid will almost certainly return from his one-match suspension to take the captain's armband from Martyn Forrest. However, if Preece is superstitious, he might just leave the 22-year-old as skipper. When Forrest has been captain (five times to be exact) Bury have never lost.

Harpal Singh is still out with a back problem while Baichung Bhutia is not match fit. Kick off tonight is 7.45pm.