SOMEBODY must have put a curse on the keeper's gloves at Bury.

The club is fast developing a reputation as a goalkeepers' graveyard, after getting through 13 stoppers in just two years.

Now current No 1 Alan Fettis is hoping the Shakers' bad luck with keepers is about to come to an end.

Fettis, who returned to the Bury side in Tuesday's FA Cup second-round replay win at Chester after three months out with a broken arm, said: "It's a ridiculous stat, isn't it?

"Most clubs would probably use two or three keepers maximum in that length of time, but to have that many is horrendous. It's a bit of a graveyard here for goalkeepers, but it's just one of those things, and you have to deal with it.

"I've never seen anything like it in my career. I hope that's the end of it now - for my sake."

Fettis is not the only one to have suffered bad luck after pulling on the gloves.

Glynn Garner suffered a bad injury which kept him out for several months before he left to join Leyton Orient in 2005.

And Craig Dootson never played for the Shakers again after breaking his arm in a league game against Barnet last season, while Neil Edwards was forced to retire last summer with a shoulder injury.

Dootson and Edwards were only two of six keepers Bury used last season. Tony Williams filled in for a while on loan from Carlisle, teenager Aaron Grundy stepped into the breach when Dootson broke his arm, Kasper Schmeichel arrived on loan from City, and defender Dave Challinor also pulled on the gloves when Edwards was sent off in a match against Notts County.

This season, manager Chris Casper has tried to plug the gap by bringing Schmeichel back on loan, only for the young Dane to be recalled by City in October.

Then Casper signed teenager Lewis Edge on loan, but the 19-year-old was recalled by Blackpool after just two games.

Schmeichel came back for a third spell, but could not play in Bury's FA Cup ties against Weymouth, so 18-year-old reserve Grundy had to step in again.

Casper thought he had solved the problem by bringing in Andy Warrington on loan from Doncaster, but he suffered a thigh injury against Walsall two weeks ago, and so striker Andy Bishop had to go in goal.

The Shakers were then given permission to sign Lee Jones on an emergency loan from Blackpool, but he was not registered to play for Bury in the FA Cup, meaning that Fettis had to return quicker than he would have liked.

Given that his club have that kind of record for getting through keepers, Fettis was just pleased to leave Chester unscathed after Tuesday's match.

He said: "I don't know myself what the goal-keeping situation is at the moment! We'll see how I go in training during the week, but it's just a case of playing games and getting back into it."