JAMES Vaughan has scrapped his pursuit of the golden boot as he vows to fire the Shakers to safety.

With 22 goals already this term, Vaughan sits second in the League One goalscoring charts – four strikes behind Sheffield United’s Billy Sharp.

But the only table the former Everton and Birmingham forward has in his sights is the league table.

Bury sit precariously in 18th place, one point above the drop zone, but with seven sides battling it out to avoid finishing in the bottom four Vaughan says he is solely focused on staving off relegation.

“My target is to keep the club in the league now, that’s all I’ve got,” Vaughan said. “Hopefully if my goals can do that then that’s good enough for me.

“When we’re in a relegation fight it’s a case of getting the points, to be honest.

“At the moment we are focusing on staying in the league. I’m not really thinking of the golden boot.”

Bury face a tough double-header against Rochdale and Bolton over the Easter period – but Vaughan is excited by playing two local derbies in the space of five days.

“They are the ones you want to play in at this time of the year,” Vaughan explained.

“Whenever you need an extra incentive that’s it. Hopefully we can start from there and get some points.

Vaughan will return to the Macron Stadium on Tuesday, 10 years on from suffering a severed artery in his foot playing for Everton in the Premier League.

The then 18-year-old striker netted the equaliser in a 1-1 draw before being stretchered off with blood spurting from his foot.

Vaughan has been able to move past the injury but would love to replicate his heroic goal which came on Easter Monday in 2007.

“That was a long time ago now,” Vaughan said of the horrific cut. “It’s not about me, it’s about the team. We’re in a relegation fight and we just want to get out of it.

“I severed the artery in my foot. I wasn’t out for long, it healed quite quick. I’ve been there since and it’s not a problem for me.”