Bury manager Kevin Blackwell has insisted that his side are still capable of surviving in League One despite being six points off 20th-placed Oldham Athletic.

Blackwell's side were defeated 4-1 at Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon, but he said that he believes Bury can pick up enough points in their next seven matches to stay up.

"This is the toughest season I have known," PA Sport quotes Blackwell as saying. "The football club has been on the back foot for a long time on and off the pitch.

"Even though we lost 4-1 against a very good Bournemouth side, it did not reflect on the way we played. Andy Bishop was a real handful in the first half and only a top-class save by their goalkeeper stopped us going in at half-time 2-1 up.

"In the second half Bournemouth were too strong for us and scored some great goals. We are still in with a chance of staying up. When I came here in October we were 14 points adrift. We have seven matches left and I believe we can get enough points from them to stay up."

Bury are at home to Crewe Alexandra on Friday.