PAUL Cox knows his side will have to improve if they are to be realistic National League play-off contenders after a stalemate against Torquay saw them drop out of the top-five.

The Bluebirds were unable to build on their midweek win at Macclesfield, as the fought out a dour encounter with the Gulls on a grey Holker Street afternoon.

Dover Athletic’s win at North Ferriby United saw them climb above AFC into the final play-off spot, while victories for Aldershot, Gateshead and Macc brought them all closer to Barrow in the standings.

Cox’s side could not join their rivals in claiming all three points, as they endured a tough afternoon against relegation-battling Torquay.

Despite a solid defensive effort, it was up front where Barrow had their problem, with variously Richie Bennett, Shaun Tuton, Ross Hannah and debutant Inih Effiong all unable to find a breakthrough.

“You’ve always got to be frustrated with not getting the three points,” said Cox. “The positive though is that, if you look over the past three games, there have been two tough games away at Aldershot and Macclesfield, then this game, you’d have said draw the away games, win the homes games, you’re looking at five points. After the three games, whichever way you look at it, we’ve picked up the five points.

“The things that frustrated me today were our lack of penetration in the last third, our anticipation of the ball dropping in and around the box, being clever and being cute and getting on to those balls like we are usually good at.

“Every game in this league is a really, really tough game. We were playing against a side today who are huge in terms of history, in terms of being a Football League club a few years ago. I’ve worked down there myself, and it’s a fabulous place, a fabulous football club.

“They’re fighting for their lives. If they had lost today and results go against them, they could have dropped in among those relegation clubs.

“We had to battle, we worked extremely hard, but we didn’t work cute and clever. Against some of these teams – they came with a 4-5-1 system with men around the ball – you have to be a little cuter and be patient.

“The players have worked extremely hard. We have come up against adversity in the two away games, where the boys have gone above and beyond what was expected and got good results. It’s where we are, and to be where we are is excellent, but we need to improve in certain parts of our game if we’re going to be realistic contenders for a play-off place.”

He added: “I’m disappointed with the result. The boys have worked extremely hard, but I don’t think there was much quality from either side – neither goalkeeper had much to do.

“We could do better, but I expect it to be like that between now and the end of the season. There will be some frustrating days, there will be some days when we are on a high and some days when we are on a low. We’ve just got to accept it, deal with the twists and turns and hopefully come out of the other end.

Despite dropping out of the play-off places, Cox is not overly concerned.

Instead, he is pleased to have come through a tough run of games with points from all three going into a week without a midweek fixture for the majority of the first-team squad – some will feature in the Lancashire Senior Cup against Rochdale tomorrow night – knowing there will be many more ups and downs to come.

“There will criss-crossing all over the place in the table, I envisage until the last game of the season,” he said. “It’s about putting together that little bit of consistency.

“It’s nice to get rid of these three games, if I’m going to be totally honest, because there was a lot of thought process, a lot of movement, a lot of new faces in and around the squad. It will be nice for the boys to settle down a little bit now, get to know one another and to re-establish what we are about and our DNA.”