Bury manager Kevin Blackwell believes that his side's forthcoming fixtures could determine their prospects of surviving in League One.

The Shakers, who find themselves eight points adrift of safety, are currently under a transfer embargo after obtaining a loan to pay wages from the Professional Footballers' Association.

Bury face relegation rivals Portsmouth on Saturday ahead of back-to-back home games against Scunthorpe United and Colchester United. Blackwell has claimed that these matches could prove crucial in the club's survival bid.

"They're all massive games, we knew this month was the big one," sportinglife.com quotes Blackwell as saying.

"We had to get into a position where we could at least have a chance to get out of it. That's what we've done and I don't want us to mess that up.

"This month was the chance for us to get out and all the way through it's been about trying to get to a point of getting out."

Bury have won one of their last six games.