LINCOLN City’s dangerous striker Liam Hearn – who has bagged eight National League goals this term – has become one of Paul Cox’s first signings as Barrow AFC boss.

Hearn’s temporary switch to Holker Street will last until January 4, with Carlisle United’s 23-year-old forward Steven Rigg also arriving on an emergency loan deal.

The latter’s deal runs out two days earlier than Hearn’s tie-up.

The duo are sure to be strong contenders to be part of Barrow’s squad tomorrow, when the Bluebirds will play host to Woking (3pm kick-off).

Barrow also tried to push through a youth loan deal for Stoke City’s 19-year-old French midfielder Eddy Lecygne yesterday. But the Premier League Potters were unable to lodge the relevant paperwork before the 5pm deadline for loans, thus the move fell through.

On the face if it, it appears that Cox has pulled off good business for goal-shy Barrow by signing 30-year-old Hearn, who arrives with bags of National League experience.

Having previously turned out for Alfreton, the Nottingham-born man plundered almost 30 goals for Grimsby in 2011/2012 – including a hat-trick against Barrow in the Mariners’ 5-2 home victory over the Bluebirds in October 2011.

He went on to play for Mansfield, before joining the Imps in the summer. This season, the striker has scored eight goals in 17 League Two appearances – including 11 starts – for Lincoln.

Keswick-born Rigg made the move from Northern League club Penrith to Carlisle in the summer of 2014, going on to score six goals – including a debut strike at Hartlepool – in his first season with the club.

He has made a total of 33 League Two appearances for the Cumbrians, including 20 starts.

But he has found first-team chances hard to come by this season with Carlisle boasting plenty of attacking options.

Meanwhile, it seems certain that coach Alex Meechan – the former assistant of recently-departed boss Darren Edmondson – will be in the Barrow dug-out tomorrow.

Uncertainty has surrounded Meechan’s Holker Street future after Edmondson exited the club at the start of the week.

But Meechan – who initially joined Barrow as a player/coach in 2013 – will remain at Barrow, at least for the short term while Cox continues to assess his set-up.

Whether Meechan will end up serving as Cox’s long-term assistant remains to be seen.

Barrow’s chief executive Austin Straker said: “It’s up to Alex to prove to the new boss that he is worth keeping on – which is the case with the players and all the backroom staff.

“Paul is happy to work with what we’ve got to assess them in the same way he will assess pretty much every aspect of the club.

“They need to see how well it works from both angles, Alex may decide that he doesn’t want to work with Paul Cox, or Paul might decide that Alex doesn’t bring what he needs. They’ve got to compliment each other.

“Alex Meechan has been totally professional since the news of Darren’s departure and had the club’s best interests at heart.”