Ian Evatt is aware of the threat Chorley will pose Barrow AFC in the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup but insists their hosts will have their work cut out against his side as well.

The Magpies are arguably the toughest lower-league opposition the Bluebirds could have drawn, as they’ll be up against a side who are unbeaten this season and five points clear at the top of National League North.

They also boast one of the best defensive records in the country, as they’ve conceded just five goals in 12 league games, with only Alfreton Town breaching their defence at their Victory Park home.

Their form, and the fact just 12 league places separate them, should mean there will be no problem in Barrow’s players being focused on their task in trying to reach the competition proper.

Evatt said: “There’s no complacency, we know this is going to be a really, really tough game.

“Chorley are a good side who are doing fantastically well in their league and they cause many teams problems, so our players will know that.

“They’ll know that they’ve got their work cut out, but so have Chorley.

“I can’t emphasise enough that we are a team in transition that are improving and going places and I’m sure that the Chorley manager [Jamie Vermiglio] will have done his homework as to how we’re playing and he’ll be fearful of us as well.”

The match is a chance for Barrow to right the wrongs of last season, when they were embarrassed by a 2-1 defeat to Shaw Lane, a club who have since gone bust, in this stage of the FA Cup.

That they’re up against a side who are full of confidence and are likely to go on the attack could help Evatt’s men, who were frustrated by the stifling tactics of Bromley in last Saturday’s 2-1 defeat.

Evatt said: “I said to the players on Monday that it’s positive in many ways but difficult others because we’ve become a scalp.

“Teams are setting up to stop us playing and on a 3G pitch like that, when teams camp in like they did it can be difficult to break down because it doesn’t roll like a grass pitch does.

“It made it difficult for us to make passes in between lines, although having said that, we should have got something out of the game and we’ve only got ourselves to blame with their second goal, from a set-piece.”

Evatt is very aware of what the value of a good cup run is for Barrow, who last reached the third round just two seasons ago and have taken travelling contingents of over 7,000 to Sunderland and Middlesbrough in the past.

In what is his first season as a manager, Evatt is hoping to build the sort of memories that sometimes eluded him as a player in the competition.

“I only ever got to the fifth round, I think, which is not too good to be honest,” Evatt said. “I wish I had got further.

“It was a strange one when I was at Blackpool – we got to the fourth round once when we were in League One, but other than that when we were higher up, we tended to make changes because we deemed the league more important.

“I think my best run was for Derby when was a young lad – around 18 or 19 [years old] – when they were in the Premier League.”