GEORGE Williams’ loan assignment in Furness can serve as a vital learning experience.

The 22-year-old prospect has dropped out of the Football League to test his defensive skills in non-league’s top flight.

Williams sealed his three-month loan move to Barrow from League One Barnsley last week and subsequently started the next two matches – the 1-1 draw against Guiseley and last weekend’s 2-1 reverse at Cheltenham.

On both occasions he lined up alongside experienced centre-back duo Simon Grand and Danny Livesey, who have both played at Football League and National League levels in the past.

Having only made a handful of appearances for Barnsley – after joining the club from Conference North side Worcester City last December – Williams is relishing his chance to shine in non-league’s top division.

“There are a lot of experienced lads here, including the centre-halves I’ve played alongside,” he said.

“I learnt that straight away against Guiseley, they talked through the whole game and they’ve had a good partnership.

“I can learn a lot from the two of them, the rest of the players and I can learn a lot from playing in this league. I haven’t actually played in the Conference.

“I’ve played a lot in Conference North but, for me, this is a step up.

“I know I’m at a League One club, but I hadn’t actually got any games under my belt in this league. It’s really good to get some experience.”

After securing his loan move, Williams made his debut in the midweek draw against Guiseley, having only linked up with his new team-mates on the night of the game.

At times he was a little tentative during the early stages, before growing into the game.

Hr produced a more assured performance at Cheltenham last Saturday, with his only real moment to forget arriving on 72 minutes when he was too weak in allowing the onrushing Kyle Storer to rise above him and head home the hosts’ equaliser.

In the aftermath of the contest, Barrow boss Darren Edmondson and Williams questioned whether Storer had committed a foul during the act of scoring having not seen a replay of the goal.

But Williams also agreed with his gaffer, by saying: “You can’t use excuses, maybe you have to try and make yourself a bit bigger in that situation.

“It is really gutting when you lose.”

With Barrow sitting fifth-from-bottom in the National League standings, they are faced with a great opportunity to kickstart their season as they host bottom club Southport tomorrow, before heading to second-from-bottom Halifax on Monday.

Barrow went ahead through Aaron Downes’ first-half own goal at Cheltenham, before Storer levelled matters and Rob Dickie scored the Robins’ 88th-minute winner.

Williams added: “You’re never pleased when you lose, especially in the way we did – going 1-0 up and then losing 2-1, so it was really gutting.

“But we can take some positives from the game, I guess we’ve just got to learn from it and then go again on Saturday and try and get the three points.

“We’ve got a big bank holiday weekend coming up so hopefully we can get six points if that’s possible.”

And he is not taking his place for granted with Niall Cowperthwaite also targeting the right-back spot.

“I’m here to do as well as I can, do as well as I can in each game, take each game as it comes, work hard in training and hopefully keep my spot,” said Williams.