Barrow AFC boss Cox: 'We were below-par in draw'

The Bluebirds stretched their unbeaten league run to 11 games although they squandered a lead after Byron Harrison had put them in front before Matt Tubbs’ equalised from the spot in the second half.

Barrow dropped down a position to fifth and remain in the play-offs but are six points off table-toppers Forest Green Rovers.

It wasn’t a case of Cox’s men taking the Cards lightly, who are now unbeaten in their last six home games, despite struggling in the National League.

“They’ve had some fantastic results at home this season,” said Cox.

“They drew with Eastleigh and beat Torquay twice so we knew it was going to be a really tough game. I looked at it, the build-up, the razzmataz of the FA Cup last week. I’ve looked at the results we’ve had and so I looked at today as being a bit of a below-par performance.

“I don’t think we were at 50 per cent today in terms of what we can produce.

“I understand it’s going to be like that and we’re going to get days like that, but when you come away with another point away from home it’s excellent.”

Cox continued: “I just don’t think we really got out of first gear.

“It might be a very positive point come Christmas time or come the end of the season.

“I don’t want to be too hard on the lads. We’ve done some travelling and had some big games of late but really it’s the mentality I’m looking at. We weren’t really mentally ourselves today. We need to regroup, and get our feet firmly back on the ground as quickly as possible and go again on Tuesday night.”

Tubbs’ penalty came after Moussa Diarra raised a high boot when attempting to stop Gozie Ugwu’s surge forward, a decision that could have gone either way.

“I said it looked soft to the referee,” explained Cox. “You’ve got to look at where the lad was running to, the ball was more or less out of play when the contact, if any, was made.

“He’s made the decision and we’ve got to get on with it. We’ll move on.”