DANNY Livesey sees exciting times ahead for Barrow AFC next season.

The central defender has a year left to run on his contract at Holker Street and is looking forward to seeing what manager Paul Cox can do.

Livesey’s season was ended by a grade one hamstring tear picked up in the 0-0 draw at Kidderminster Harriers midway through April – though he admits to having held some slight hope of making the last game of the campaign against Wrexham tomorrow.

With only the smallest of likelihoods he would play tomorrow – “I might just have been a bit hopeful,” the 31-year-old says – his attention is now turned towards next season.

Livesey is excited at the prospect of what will happen over the summer as Cox builds his own team – having inherited a squad from former boss Darren Edmondson in November.

He can only see the Bluebirds getting stronger and, as a result, the former Carlisle United centre-back, is even looking towards the play-offs.

“It’s an exciting time,” said Livesey, who has made 42 starts for AFC this season, scoring four goals and playing a major part in the 10-match unbeaten run which saw the club climb away from the drop-zone and into the top half of the National League table.

“Paul has the summer to bring his own players in and rebuild and then you start to get a true reflection of what we can achieve when it is his team and his squad. I’m sure he’s looking forward to the challenge.

“We’re all in the same boat. We can’t wait once the season has finished to see who he gets and then you can’t wait to get back and get it on. Especially with how we have played these last 15 or 16 games, there are a lot of positives coming out of the back end of the season.

“You can see by the results that we have been getting what the potential is. We haven’t really been played off the park by anyone in games. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes we have been overrun, but we have hung on in games, which we possibly weren’t doing earlier on this season when we seemed to concede one and then go under.

“He has brought that little bit of steel to the team and that is something that we can build on.”

Should Cox be successful with his summer recruitment plans, Livesey is optimistic about what lies ahead next season.

Barrow will hope to finish this campaign in the top half of the National League table, and the defender is looking beyond that for 2016/17.

“I’d hope for the play-offs next season,” Livesey said. “That’s where everyone wants to be. You all want to be up at the top end.

“You know it’s going to be difficult. There will be three in the play-off this year who don’t go up and two teams coming down who will want to go straight back up.

“We know there’s going to be a lot of competition, but we need to embrace who we are, embrace how we are going to play and see where that takes us.

“No-one will enjoy coming to Barrow next year. We need to make sure that when they come up it’s going to be a tough game for them. We need to make it a fortress at home and that gives you a good platform to build on.

“That we can talk about the play-offs is purely and simply because of the back end of the season. With the run we have been on, it has given everyone that bit of optimism that we can do something.

“First and foremost this year, it was about survival. We’ve done that and that’s good, but everyone wants to be pushing up – that’s what you play football for, you want to try and achieve something. That’s what we are trying to do next year.”