Boss says managerial switch will boost Shakers
Kevin Blackwell paid the price for Bury’s poor start to the season earlier this week.
The former Leeds and Sheffield United boss was sacked following a run of seven games without a victory.
His former assistant Ronnie Jepson has been appointed caretaker manager and will lead the Shakers against Pompey at Fratton Park on Saturday.
And Guy Whittingham believes that switch at the top will make Bury dangerous opponents.
The Blues boss said: “A change of manager normally has an effect one way or another and I’m sure they’ll be up for it.
“They will come to Fratton Park and look forward to playing in front of a big crowd.
“If I was a player on their side I would think that we’ll go there, work hard and come back with a result. It’s going to be a difficult game.
“A new man in charge will have his own ideas and be keen to get those across to his players. He’ll want to freshen things up.
“There will be those who weren’t playing under the old regime, but if someone else comes in he might pick you.”
Bury have yet to win on their travels this season, but Whittingham does not feel that statistic tells the whole story.
He said: “We’ve watched quite a few of their games and they haven’t been out of them, despite the run they’re on. They’ve been rather unfortunate not to get some better results.
“They’ve played some decent football and are a real threat, so we’ve got to make sure we nullify that.”
Simon Ferry (hamstring) and Danny East (hamstring) are both available after recovering from injury.
But Marcos Painter (calf), David Connolly (calf) and Tom Craddock (knee) are all out, while Trevor Carson is not allowed to feature against his parent club.