PETE WILD refused to blame Dean Campbell after his penalty miss during Barrow’s 0-0 draw with Harrogate Town.

The Bluebirds were gifted a golden chance in the 26th minute, but Campbell - whose penalty earned a point at Walsall in midweek - saw his spot kick saved by James Belshaw.

“Deano’s been class for us,” stressed Wild. 

“If you step up to take a penalty then fair play to you.

“He should re-spot it really and get his composure back, but he doesn’t. He’ll learn from that.

“It’s one of those things that happen once in your career and it never happens again.

“But if you look at the way he played in the football match it didn’t rock him one bit so that’s life, that’s football.”

Despite being held to a point against the side who were battered 9-2 by Mansfield Town a few weeks ago, it’s been a good couple of weeks for Wild’s side.

They lost three games on the spin in February and slipped off the promotion pace as a result.

But an enforced 17-day break due to postponements got them back into their rhythm, especially defensively.

They have conceded just once in their last four games and have picked up eight points in that time to establish themselves among the play-off spots.

Automatic promotion is still a slim possibility and with the pressure on the top three anything can happen. 

And Wild was quick to point to the positives after picking up another point in the right direction, despite seeing a host of chances missed.

He said: “I’m really pleased with how we played, really pleased with how we defended and how we looked.

“All of those facets of our game were really good, we just couldn’t get the ball over the line which is a frustrating point. 

“It was either one of those where the cross wasn’t the best, the shot wasn’t great or the keeper makes a really good save. 

“It was one of those days where it just doesn’t go your way.

“What I’ve said to the players is there are a lot of positives. We are playing a lot better over the past two weeks. We’re dominating games again, we’re looking defensively solid again. 

“They’ve put a lot of effort into the last two weeks and I’m really pleased with how they’ve gone about their business. 

“They’ve really tried to win every football match they’ve played over the last two weeks.

“I’ve been saying it for weeks, it was never going to go in a straight line. “There were always going to be things that were thrown our way.

“To get eight points from the four games is a great return.”