EXCITED new Barrow boss Paul Cox is determined to emulate his success at Mansfield Town by eventually leading the Bluebirds back into the Football League.

Nottingham-born Cox has succeeded Darren Edmondson as permanent Barrow boss by penning a three-and-a-half year deal.

The 43-year-old was appointed Mansfield manager in May 2011 before guiding the Stags – whose chairman is ambitious businessman John Radford – into League Two as Conference Premier champions in 2012/13. He eventually departed the club in November last year.

After ending his short three-month spell as Torquay boss he turned down an offer to take on a director of football’s role at an unnamed Football League club because he wanted to continue as a front-line manager.

Following his Holker Street appointment, he said: “I’m excited about the future.

“I feel as though I’m in the same position as when I took over at Mansfield a number of years ago. I’m coming to a club that’s pro-active, ambitious and one that wants to go forward.

“So I’m just very excited and wanting to get my teeth into what will be a really good and tough job.”

Cox's family will continue to be based in East Bridgford, in Nottinghamshire, but the manager will stay at accommodation in the North-West – probably in the Lancaster area – for the majority of the week.

He will meet his new squad and AFC’s backroom team today, including Alex Meechan who served as Edmondson’s assistant. He will take training at Barrow’s Lancaster University training base for the first time on Thursday ahead of Saturday's home clash with Woking.

He will be allowed to choose his own coaching staff and is still open-minded about that scenario, with a decision over Meechan’s Holker Street future yet to be taken.

Asked if he anyone is currently lined up to join his coaching team, Cox said: “Through my experiences I know a lot of good people that are very good at their jobs.

“At this moment in time I have to be respectful to everyone at the football club – players and staff. I’m going to go in, meet them and see what actually needs tweaking, what needs a total rebuild and what needs leaving alone.

“At the present time I’m quite open-minded about the whole scenario.

“But we’ll make calculated decisions based on what I find and what will take the club forward.”

Barrow owner Paul Casson hopes Barrow can achieve an upper-mid-table finish this season to set a platform from which the club can mount a big promotion assault next season.

Cox said: “I’ve got a decent track record and a half-decent win ratio, but I just want to win as many football matches as I can.

“I spoke to the chairman (Casson) and there are very strong similarities between him and John Radford who was with at Mansfield. They are both ambitious and both want to see their clubs progress into the Football League.

“The chairman at Mansfield gave me five years, I managed to do it in two (achieve promotion into League Two). But, for me, there is no tomorrow.

“If we can win as many games as possible I still think this season is very open but, speaking to the chairman, I’m also excited about building the club.

“The infrastructure of the club – putting a recognised youth set-up and reserves in there and basically building the brand of the club for the future.”

But Cox is currently reluctant to set any concrete targets for this season, as he naturally needs time to assess his squad.

“First thing’s first – to get in there and meet the players and see how far the club has come,” Cox added.

“It’s only last year that they were part-time. I want to just try and put my mark on the club, put a winning mentality into it.

“And then I would have thought that in a month to two month’s time I’ll get a better indication of the gap between ourselves and the play-offs.

“I know there are a lot of people who will plan long-term, but my short-term plan is to win as matches aqs we can - and the ones we can’t win, we make sure we don’t lose.

“If you look at us, the ‘goals conceded’ is a major issue. So we need to tighten up and we need to be more of a strong, solid unit.

“So there are loads of things that I want to see, hear and experience before I start making judgments on where I think we could finish.

“I think Saturday will be a big indication to me in terms of how we perform.”