THE supporters have been Bradford Park Avenue's 12th man on occasion this season and boss Martin Drury paid tribute after the midweek win at Gloucester City.

Avenue continued to push into mid-table with the 3-1 victory and Drury acknowledged the part played by their fans.

"The supporters have been magnificent all season and once again they were exceptional at Gloucester," he said.

"We're not a big club and there's not a big group who follow us away from home – but boy can they sing.

"They have been good at other away games but they took it up another level on Tuesday. I was in the dugout and all I could hear were our supporters.

"You don't expect many to travel to a game like that with a three or four-hour journey but enough turned up to out-sing the home supporters. Full credit to them because the fans made a big difference and made it such a positive atmosphere.

"The players hear them, we on the bench hear them and the home players hear them as well. The players really appreciate the support and it does lift them and they perform better.

"We were all delighted that we were able to deliver on the pitch and make their trip an enjoyable one."

Drury has also spoken recently about missing injured captain Simon Ainge but he felt the centre-back pairing at Gloucester were outstanding.

"Simon has been a big loss for us and I thought that was highlighted at Chorley when we were 2-0 down before quarter of an hour," he said.

"That was why I put Pricey (assistant manager Jamie Price) in as a sweeper in the next game, because we needed a talker; an organiser.

"Since then Ryan (Qualter) has come back from loan and he and Billy (Priestley) were both outstanding at Gloucester."