BARROW AFC are out to make up for the disappointment of Tuesday's 1-1 draw with Macclesfield when Maidstone United head to Holker Street tomorrow.

A late Macc equaliser denied Barrow all three points in midweek, after Danny Livesey had given them the lead with just 11 minutes to go.

It is the third home game in four where the Bluebirds have surrendered a one-goal lead in the final stages of a game, with Cox positive his squad are ready to respond against the Stones (3pm kick-off).

“We were disappointed after Tuesday – a lot of the lads were really disappointed,” he said. “More so, because it was the third home game where we feel we have probably let a few people down.

“My job is to keep them level, pick them up when they are a little bit down, and to really refocus them.

“We looked at it that, if we had won the game against Bromley, won the game against Boreham Wood and won the game against Macclesfield, then we would have been two points clear. Sometimes, that can give you a false sense of security as to where you are.

“We are where we are because we need to improve on certain things. It's key to get that over to a lot of people now – we're still learning, we're still learning. Once again, we're in a great position, never in my wildest dreams did I think we would be in this position, with that many points, at this stage of the season.

“If you do look back at those three games, it's amazing. Two of them, especially in the second half, we were in control of them, the Macclesfield game, we scored a goal with 10 minutes to go and we were 1-0 up – we really should go on to win that. We would then be sat there with a nice little gap between us and the rest of the league.

“But we are where we are for a reason. That's because there are areas we need to improve on, we need to get stronger in certain parts of our game. But, like I say, if we had all those things now, the league would be won by Christmas, and it would all get a bit boring for us all, tongue in cheek.

“There are things we need to improve on. That has shown in the games, it's just unfortunate it has happened in front of our own supporters, who we want to make sure we get coming through the turnstiles and enjoy watching us get good results in front of them.

“I think the majority of our support know 100 per cent what we are trying to achieve, know where we are, know how hard we are working, and are 100 per cent behind us.”

Cox has both Harry Panayiotou (Saint Kitts and Nevis) and loanee Dom Smith (Wales Under-21s) away on international duty, and Andy Parry sidelined with a cruciate injury. Otherwise, there is a full squad to choose from, including new loan signing Akil Wright, who joined from Fleetwood this week.

The manager expects a reaction from his players tomorrow, and said: “These players know. The mood in the dressing room was a little bit low on Tuesday, because they are developing a winning mind-set. They know we weren't 100 per cent on Tuesday, but probably did enough, when you score with 10 minutes to go, to go on and close the game down and win the game.

“The one thing these boys are good at is reacting, and reacting in the right way. I'm sure we've put a smile back on the faces at training, I'm sure they're looking forward to the challenge on Saturday, and in general are enjoying the football.”