THE FA Cup has lost none of its magic for true football fans, according to Bury boss David Flitcroft, who has already witnessed at close hand the joy and despair it can inspire this season.

David’s brother Garry led his Chorley side to within 90 minutes of a first round trip to Bradford before the Conference North outfit lost to Halifax on a replay.

And after previous success as Barnsley manager, when David’s Tykes side made it through to the fifth round before being beaten by Manchester City, he is eager to recreate that sensation at Bury.

“When I spoke to our Gaz after they were beaten by Halifax, you could see and feel the hurt of not getting through.

“Chorley beat Bamber Bridge in the last round and there was two-and-a-half thousand there.

“The police had to put a plea out on Twitter for no more people to turn up to the game.

“That’s what it does for you. The FA Cup draws a crowd, draws people in and it will always have that magic experience.

“It doesn’t matter what the big boys in the Premier League or their foreign owners do.

“If they don’t understand this cup, the fans understand it, that’s why it will always remain special.”

Bury begin this season’s FA Cup campaign with a home match against Conference South strugglers Hemel Hempstead Town today.

They go into the tie without suspended midfielder Tom Soares and injured striker Danny Nardiello (groin), while fringe players Joe Thompson, Keil O’Brien (knee) and Joe Widdowson (ankle) are also out.

Holding midfielder Kelvin Etuhu is also a doubt after being withdrawn at half time in their last match with a hamstring strain.

Flitcroft has assured fans he will not be taking any risks by resting key players that are fit to play.

Whatever team he puts out, Bury will remain clear favourites after winning their last eight matches at home in all competitions, moving up to fourth in League Two, while their opponents are struggling in 17th place in Conference South.

But after poor results away from home saw the Shakers drop of out the automatic promotion places, Flitcroft believes a good cup run could help boost his side’s league form.

“I have loved the FA Cup from being a young player and now becoming a manager - it is a special cup,” he added.

“It all adds to competition. It adds to belief, it creates a winning habit. Good habits are key in sport.

“You still want that clean sheet, you still want to turn your forward play into goals and that doesn’t matter if it is the FA Cup, Capital One Cup or Johnstone’s Paint Trophy or the league.

“So I want to see good performances – that’s one thing that I will be demanding from the players. The one thing we will be doing is performing to our maximum.

“We’ve come through a tough month with games at Shrewsbury, Wimbledon and Southend.

“Our points total isn’t what I wanted it to be but we are sat two points off the top and we are in two good cup competitions so we have a good month to look forward to.”