The Shakers head into the weekend unbeaten at home and occupying the final play-off place with eight games of the season completed.
Relegated from League One last season, they recruited well during the summer and are one of the fancied teams with an open intention to bounce back at the first attempt.
Sheffield United striker Caolan Lavery was the last addition to the pack when he joined on a season-long loan on deadline day, and he has already made his mark with one goal from his three appearances.
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United fans, click HERE for a handy guide to all things Bury Football Club - particularly if you're a first time visitor.
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Who do we recognise this time?
On the playing side of things we'll be bumping in to Nicky Adams, Jermaine Beckford and Tom Miller [Tom Aldred is out on loan at Motherwell].
Adams became a crowd favourite at Brunton Park during his two-year stay here, but his second season was blighted by a cruciate ligament injury. Nicknamed the Little Magician by his team mates, he made 69 appearances and scored three goals for the Blues.
Tom Miller was another popular addition to the squad when he made the move up north in the summer of 2015. He scored nine goals in 108 outings for the Blues, with a fair smattering of goal-of-the-season contenders bulging the back of the net along the way.
A very young Jermaine Beckford made his way to Carlisle on loan from Leeds in 2006 right at the start of what turned out to be a fantastic career. He scored the only goal of his five-game stay on his debut, a 1-2 reverse at the hands of Millwall, and was later described as 'the one that got away' as he joined Scunthorpe just two months later. Eight goals in 18 appearances announced his arrival for the Iron.
Look towards the boardroom on Saturday and you'll see Bury's Sporting Director Lee Dykes, who left his position as assistant manager and head of recruitment at Brunton Park in the summer. Dykes spent just under four years with Carlisle before accepting his new position at Gigg Lane.
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Manager’s thoughts
Speaking ahead of the game, United boss John Sheridan said: “Technically they have some very good players. You all know Nicky Adams, then there’s the likes of Danny Mayor and Jay O’Shea.
“These are players who, if you stand off them, and allow them to do what they’re good at, they will give you problems. We respect that, but we’ll go there with the attitude that whoever we’re going to pick will get us the result we’re after.
“We’re not going there to sit back and try to nick something, we’re going to be positive and to take the game to them if we can.”
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Did You Know?
Why are Bury called the Shakers [taken from Bury's official website]
It's the most asked question that the club receives, from young to old, they all want to know exactly why are Bury Football Club called 'the Shakers?'
So here it is, the definitive answer ...
"It was the 1892 Lancashire Cup Final on 23 April that the clubs nickname of 'The Shakers' first came into being. Mr. J T Ingham was Chairman cum team manager at the time and it is this gentleman who is alleged to have been questioned about his team's ability to beat the supposedly stronger opponents that day. It has been recorded down the years since that Mr. Ingham retorted as follows:-
'We shall shake 'em, in fact, we are the Shakers.'
And that was seized upon by the press of the day and since then, the club have been known as The Shakers."
Some reports suggest that Mr Ingham may have actually uttered the phrase at the semi-final game against Everton but, what is certain, is that Bury Football Club's nickname came into existence during the famous Lancashire Senior Cup success of 1892.
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Head to Head
These teams have met a total of 38 times over the years, with United having won 19 of the encounters in comparison to 13 victories for the Shakers.
| Carlisle wins | Draws | Bury wins | |
| League | 16 | 5 | 13 |
| League Cup | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Cup | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 19 | 6 | 13 |
The last two meetings, however, very much favoured this weekend's hosts as second half goals from Danny Jones, Craig Jones and Ryan Lowe saw them steal away from Brunton Park with all three points in September 2014.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
The return meeting at Gigg Lane in January 2015 was another difficult one for the Blues as a brace from Danny Nardiello came either side of what tuened out to be a consolation goal for Steven Rigg.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
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Man in the middle:
The referee for this game is Mr Mark Heywood. He has taken charge of six games so far this season showing 27 yellow cards and two reds.
We last saw him for our final game of the season, against Newport, when an early Mark Ellis goal was cancelled out by a Padraig Amond equaliser just before the break. That was it for the scoring, and the sides played out a 1-1 draw as the campaign came to a close.
He was also our match official for our FA Cup replay against Gillingham in December when a Hallam Hope brace set the scene. Scott Wagstaff bit back, but Shaun Miller confirmed our progression with an injury time match settler.
Eight names were taken on the night with Tom Miller, Reggie Lambe and Gary Liddle going in the book for United.
Referee – Mark Heywood
Assistant Referee 1 – Peter Gooch
Assistant Referee 2 – Duncan Street
Fourth Official – Ken Haycock
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Ticket information:
At time of going to press we had not received an update on the exact number of away tickets sold for this fixture.
Click HERE for full home match ticket information.
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