HOW much can you really read into what was effectively an extended training session? On the surface, very little.

Just four days into pre-season training, you can forgive the Shakers for playing the game at a canter, especially with a prestige friendly against a full-strength Everton side just four days away.

No injuries were sustained, and a goalless first half, when Chris Casper named his strongest available side to start the game, would suggest a job well done.

The trialists arrived en masse in the second half, with just the instantly-recognisable faces of Andy Parrish and Colin Woodthorpe popping up above the anonymity.

Altrincham grabbed two opportunist goals through Colin Little and former Shakers loanee Joe O'Neil, and one of the more impressive players looking to earn a deal, winger Ahmed Dean, pulled one back just before the end.

But looking a little closer, there were some intriguing signs of what is to come for the Shakers over the coming months.

Firstly, Casper experimented with a new formation - naming three centre-halves in Paul Morgan, Ben Futcher and Dave Challinor, flanked by two wingbacks in David Buchanan and Steven Haslam.

Trial striker Drewe Broughton played as the spearhead of a front three, with the lively Nicky Adams and Glynn Hurst either side of him. Paul Scott has seemingly completed his transformation into a midfielder, filling in the gaps with Richie Baker in the middle of the park.

Although a bumpy pitch hardly helped the flowing football, it looked as if Bury struggled in the main to adapt to their new shape.

Notable exceptions included Adams, who buzzed around Broughton with his hallmark enthusiasm without ever really threatening Stuart Coburn's goal.

Morgan also looked the part in his first start for the Shakers; composed, assured, he picked off any loose balls which escaped the attention of the ball-winning defenders Challinor and Futcher.

After the break, it was difficult to recognise the new faces on show, let alone comment on their performance.

Former Port Vale midfieler Christian Smith emerged with plenty of credit with a controlled display in midfield, and Liverpool winger Jimmy Ryan put in an excellent far-post cross for the speedy winger Dean to hammer home from the angle for Bury's consolation.

Altrincham, further down the road in their preparations for the new season, had seized the advantage through former Macclesfield Town striker Little, who left trialist keeper Jim Provett flat-footed with a low strike from 18 yards on 57 minutes.

O'Neill then managed to do something he did only three times in 30 appearances for the Shakers when he produced a composed lob over Provett.

The game may have been meaningless in the grand scheme of things but one couldn't help but wonder where two key components, injured pair Andy Bishop and Brian Barry-Murphy, would fit in the new equation.

So it's on to Everton this weekend at Gigg Lane, where it would be no surprise to see the burly striker Broughton given another chance up front in Bishop's continued absence. It would be less of a shock, however, if a few of the less familiar faces have moved on to pastures new.