BARROW AFC manager Paul Cox expects a ‘better and tougher’ National League season after the fixtures for 2016/17 were released.

The Bluebirds were handed an opening-day home match against Aldershot on August 6 and a final day encounter with Dover Athletic at Holker Street on April 29, with nine months of hard competition in between.

A trip to title favourites Tranmere Rovers comes with the first away match, while a festive double-header against Gateshead comes at the turn of the year.

Cox is happy to be starting on home turf, though he knows there will be some hard matches in the opening stretch of fixtures.

“The first thought is that it has been kind to us in terms of some of the longer journeys – the Dovers, the Torquays – we get them out of the way early on, which is positive,” he said.

“It could have been a lot easier, but then it could have been a lot harder. The league overall will be a better league and a tougher league than last season and I have this philosophy that we have to play everybody twice anyway, so it didn’t really matter to me how they came out.

“When the fixtures come out, at least we know who we are playing and when we are playing them, so we can do a little bit of homework now on teams, and make sure we get us right physically and tactically for those games coming up.”

He added: “We plan and prepare as well as we can. Our pre-season is where we have a look and we will play in a certain way and with a certain formation against certain people, not as an experiment, but as a build-up to the early games so that the boys have a nice feel when we do come into those and they don’t feel like we are dropping something on them.

“It helps us with our preparation. We know what we are coming up against, we can have the opposition watched and we can plan accordingly.”

Cox expects Aldershot to be tough first opponents for his side, as they look to improve on their bottom-half finish from last term.

The Shots have signed the likes of Scott Rendell, from Woking, Shamir Fenelon, from Crawley, and Liam Bellamy, from Dover, and the Barrow manager knows they will be a different proposition from the team beaten 1-0 on their last visit to Furness in March.

“I always think it’s nice to be at home for that first game in front of your own supporters,” he said.

“We’re playing against Aldershot, who have recruited well in the summer and will be a different animal this year.

“I think every manager in the league will be thinking the same things and will have the same plusses and the same negatives. If you went through them all, they will all be wanting to get their first points on the board as quickly as possible, their first win and get the season under way well.”

Barrow’s opening away fixture at Tranmere will see them come up against former striker Andy Cook soon after his departure.

But Cox says that is not an issue for him – though facing one of the favourites for the title is.

“I think with Tranmere, the bookies and everyone are looking at them as the team to beat this year,” he said.

“I’m not interested in the Andy Cook scenario. It doesn’t matter to me – players will come and go and sign for people. I will shake Andy Cook’s hand before and after the game, like I would with any player I have worked with.

“It’s another game and it doesn’t have any extra significance for me, apart from the fact they are going to be one of the teams that people are talking about as the ones to beat.”

On the season’s finale, with Barrow hosting Dover to end the campaign, Cox is happy to see six home matches in the last two months.

He added: “We’ve got a lot of home games in those last two months. If you’ve got a good run-in, then that’s all that matters.

“We’ve got a lot of home games and I think our home form will be key next year. Saying that, we want to do better away from home than we did in the first half of the season last year.

“For any football club, the home form is always key. The support you get improves, money comes through the turnstiles.

“It’s nice that, on paper – and you can only go on paper – that we have a half-decent finish to the season with quite a number of home games.”

FULL FIXTURE LIST

Saturday, August 6: Barrow AFC v Aldershot Town; Tuesday, August 9: Tranmere Rovers v Barrow AFC; Saturday, August 13: Torquay United v Barrow AFC; Tuesday, August 16: Barrow AFC v Chester; Saturday, August 20: Dover Athletic v Barrow AFC; Saturday, August 27: Barrow AFC v Braintree Town; Monday, August 29: North Ferriby United v Barrow AFC.

Saturday, September 3: Barrow AFC v Bromley; Saturday, September 10: Barrow AFC v Boreham Wood; Tuesday, September 13: Southport v Barrow AFC; Saturday, September 17: Lincoln City v Barrow AFC; Saturday, September 24: Barrow AFC v York City.

Saturday, October 1: Forest Green Rovers v Barrow AFC; Tuesday, October 4: Barrow AFC v Macclesfield Town; Saturday, October 8: Barrow AFC v Maidstone United; Saturday, October 15: FA Cup fourth qualifying round; Saturday, October 22: Woking v Barrow AFC; Tuesday, October 25: Wrexham v Barrow AFC; Saturday, October 29: Barrow AFC v Eastleigh.

Saturday, November 5: FA Cup Round One; Saturday, November 12: Sutton United v Barrow AFC; Saturday, November 19: Barrow AFC v Solihull Moors; Tuesday, November 22: Barrow AFC v Guiseley; Saturday, November 26: Dagenham and Redbridge v Barrow AFC; Tuesday, November 29: Macclesfield Town v Barrow AFC.

Saturday, December 3: Barrow AFC v Southport; Saturday, December 10: FA Trophy Round One; Saturday, December 17: Boreham Wood v Barrow AFC; Monday, December 26: Barrow AFC v Gateshead.

Sunday, January 1: Gateshead v Barrow AFC; Saturday, January 7: Barrow AFC v Lincoln City; Saturday, January 14: (FA Trophy 2nd Round); Saturday, January 21: York City v Barrow AFC; Saturday, January 28: Barrow AFC v Forest Green Rovers.

Saturday, February 4: Barrow AFC v Tranmere Rovers; Saturday, February 11: Aldershot Town v Barrow AFC; Saturday, February 18: Barrow AFC v Torquay United; Saturday, February 25: Chester v Barrow AFC; Tuesday, February 28: Guiseley v Barrow AFC.

Saturday, March 4: Barrow AFC v Sutton United; Saturday, March 11: Eastleigh v Barrow AFC; Saturday, March 18: Barrow AFC v Dagenham and Redbridge; Tuesday, March 21: Barrow AFC v Wrexham; Saturday, March 25: Solihull Moors v Barrow AFC.

Saturday, April 1: Maidstone United v Barrow AFC; Saturday, April 8: Barrow AFC v Woking; Friday, April 14: Bromley v Barrow AFC; Monday April 17: Barrow AFC v North Ferriby United; Saturday, April 22: Braintree Town v Barrow AFC; Saturday, April 29: Barrow AFC v Dover Athletic.