‘UNDER the radar’ and Barrow AFC owner Paul Casson are not words which often go together.

The Texas-based millionaire has garnered much publicity since taking over at Holker Street two years ago and admits he worries there may be a big-money reputation for both himself and the club when it comes to signing new players.

He has big plans to redevelop the ground – with work on new floodlights set to start soon – and has set out ambitions to be back in the Football League, despite taking over at a time when the team were in Conference North.

But despite his hopes and dreams, Casson believes Barrow are managing to avoid hype and expectations this season even though they have built a strong squad.

The Bluebirds chief has been impressed with the players assembled by manager Paul Cox – and is looking forward to seeing them in action for the first time at Airbus UK Broughton on Saturday.

But he feels Barrow’s relatively small national profile means their recruitment – bringing in the likes of Chester hotshot Ross Hannah and Macclesfield captain Paul Turnbull – has been largely ignored among the wider footballing community.

While not being drawn on his expectations for the National League campaign ahead, Casson feels there would be a lot more hype over the team if they were a more ‘fashionable’ name.

“I think that if we were somebody a little bit more fashionable than Barrow, like a Wrexham, a Tranmere or a Lincoln even, one of those teams, then people would be really talking up the team,” said Casson, who will return to the USA after Saturday’s match in North Wales before coming back for the game against Carlisle United in two weeks.

“But because we’re not, then I think we may be able to slide under the radar a little bit.

“It’s a very interesting team with a lot of quality in it and a lot of up-side. Most of the players are a great age with lots of potential to develop over the next four or five years.

“It’s about how quickly they can come together.

“There is still a core there from last year, it’s not like we have scrapped the whole team and started new. We do have some very good players to build on and I do think we have added some quality to the bones that were there.

“I’m pretty excited to see them play.”

Casson feels Cox has assembled a strong team as they look to improve on last season’s 11th-placed finish – which came after a run of just one defeat in their last 14 matches as they climbed far away from the relegation zone.

That run of form also gives the owner confidence when he assesses what might happen when the new campaign gets up and running, and he said: “I look at the last 10 games and, if you look at our form, we were the second-best team in the league. The team that was better than us, is no longer in the league.

“Over the last 10 games, you could say we were one of the best teams in that league and I expect us to continue that.

“You bring in 10 better players, then you expect to be better than you were the season before. I think if we weren’t Barrow and we were somebody else, people would be talking about this team like it was going out of style.

“We’re a Richie Bennett having the season we believe he can have away from having an amazing season.”

Looking at the pre-season matches still to come, Casson added: “There are some decent games. Accrington were up there in the League Two play-offs, I’m sure Carlisle will be wanting to be up there this year. They will be a fairly decent test of where we are at.”