PAUL Cox admits he didn’t expect his newly-assembled Barrow AFC squad to be anywhere near the top of the table at this stage in the season.

The Bluebirds lie eighth in the National League and within striking distance of the top five in the ultra-competitive fifth tier of English football.

But for a sloppy late equaliser conceded at home to Bromley last Saturday AFC would already in the play-off places.

And although disappointed with the manner of how those two points were dropped - a slip by goalkeeper Joel Dixon from a Euana Murray throw-in allowing Bromley’s Blair Turgott to level on 85 minutes - Cox is not going to allow any negative feelings to stain what has been a solid start.

After all, Barrow are on a three-match unbeaten run ahead of tomorrow’s visit of Boreham Wood, with bank holiday victories over Braintree and North Ferriby preceding the 1-1 draw against Bromley.

“We’re a little bit disappointed how the game finished on Saturday,” said the straight-talking manager. “But if we had won, that would have been three wins on the bounce and nine points.

“And when you look back you have to ask yourself would we have taken seven points from the two games over the bank holiday and last week?

"The answer is absolutely - so it’s all positive.

“We know the mistake we made and we will look to rectify and now we push on or what lies ahead on Saturday for us. The boys have worked hard all week in training as always and there is a good feeling the camp.”

Cox expects another difficult game against mid-table Boreham Wood, who pulled off a 2-0 win at top-six Dagenham and Redbridge last time out underlining how competitive the league is.

“Anybody who thinks there are easy games in this league is absolutely crazy,” stressed Cox. “From top to bottom it’s very difficult.

“Look at our win at (North) Ferriby. They are right down there but it is a tough place to go and our lads got a fantastic win because not many teams will win there.

"There will be teams who go there who will wonder how they have lost the game or how they haven’t won the three points. You have got to earn everything in this league, as you do in life.

“We’ve got off to a half-decent start and now we need to build from here. We need to become better at certain things in our game and more consistent with certain things in our game.

“We’re sat nicely in the table. I don’t think this group of players have got anywhere near where they can get to in terms of performance. But that is not going to happen with a new group who have been chucked together in the summer.”

Cox’s only new injury concern is with the versatile Andy Parry who hurt his knee in training, while loan defender Dom Smith returns from international duty with Wales under-21s.

Said Cox: “Andy Parry tweaked his knee in midweek. It is nothing too serious and we are hoping he is going to be okay. We are monitoring Shaun Beeley (groin) and we will have Dom Smith back from international duty.”