It's double bubble for Bury boss Alan Knill - with his second Coca-Cola League 2 Manager of the Month Award this season!

Knill, who yesterday celebrated a year in charge at Gigg Lane, reckons the bond between the club and its fans is the magical X factor behind their improving fortunes.

He has transformed Bury from relegation candidates to promotion hopefuls in twelve months.

The January campaign comprised of four victories, a draw, and a defeat at unbeaten league leaders Wycombe Wanderers.

Knill, who played 170 games for the Shakers in the 1990s, believes the secret to his team's revival is all about turning the clock back with the fans.

He said: "We don't get the biggest gates at Bury. But those fans who do turn up have stuck by the club through an awful lot.

"Over the last three years, results have been really poor and crowds have been low. That had become a negative issue.

"But what we've done in the last 12 months is try to turn it into a positive by joining in with those fans as much as possible.

"I take the players to a pub which is run by one of the supporters and we have quiz nights and a regular fans' forum.

"One of the reasons I came back to the club as manager was because I had such great times as a player.

"I already knew a lot of the people here, and I know what Bury means to those fans."

Knill says the Manager of the Month award for January, following on from his success in September, highlights the consistency of his players this season.

He said: "Although the award is called Manager of the Month, it's the team on the pitch that achieve the results.

"We were third bottom when I arrived a year ago. Now we are third top, so that shows the progress the players have made.

"Only two of the lads are over 30 and that demonstrates what we are about.

"All we do is tell the players we will improve them. They were good players before I arrived, but we have made them better."

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