A PHILOSOPHICAL Paul Cox admitted disappointment as his Barrow AFC side saw the chance of three points against Macclesfield evaporate after a late equaliser.

For the third time in four home matches, the Bluebirds were held to a 1-1 draw having led going into the last 10 minutes, this time as Neil Byrne capitalised on defensive errors to cancel out Danny Livesey’s opener.

Cox was frustrated his side managed to hold the lead for just two-and-a-half minutes when victory would have lifted them to fourth in the National League, but urged supporters to recognise the general progress being made by a team who are now nine games unbeaten.

“In the latter stages of the game, when you go 1-0 up after what was a cagey and disjointed match for both sides, you should shut up shop, go home with the three points,” said Cox, whose side remain sixth in the standings, two places below the Silkmen, who have lost just once in eight games themselves.

“The lads are disappointed with the performance, but it’s my job to keep them buoyed. We tend to forget that we played against a team in third place today, above us.

“It was a great opportunity when we were 1-0 up to take the three points, but as I’ve said to the lads, it’s a learning curve for us and we’re going to have days like that.

“We looked as a team as if we really didn’t get out of first gear. I looked at Macclesfield and compare it to their performance against Wrexham, and they probably didn’t get to their high levels either.

“It’s a long season, we’re still nicely up there, still unbeaten over a number of games, and once again we can improve, we can become better at certain things, more consistent at certain things.

“I don’t want to get too down. It feels once again like we have lost a football match, and that’s because we have earned the right to score late on, and then probably didn’t concentrate as much as we should have done in the latter stages.

“I’m not going to get too down. We can do a hell of a lot better, but we have to be realistic – we played against a team in third place today, and no-one is going to allow us to just run all over them.

“It’s learning curves, making sure we’re on that steady incline and we’re not peaking too soon.

“We’ve got some big games in front of us. It’s a big month for us, but I want us to be positive. We’re not going to win every game, but improvement in certain areas will see us continue on that steady incline.”

Livesey popped up with a header in the 79th-minute at Holker Street to put Barrow ahead in a game where neither side reached the levels they have shown themselves capable of this term.

But the visitors responded almost immediately, with Byrne touching home after goalkeeper Joel Dixon had flapped at a cross and his defence had scrambled unsuccessfully to stop Kingsley James from putting the ball into the danger area.

Cox put the inability to hold on for the win down to a lack of attentiveness, and said: “It boils down to concentration. Being totally honest, I don’t think we got out of first gear tonight. I’ve said to the boys we can’t get too down about it – we’re going to have nights, we’re going to have days like this in what is going to be a very long season.

“It’s something that you can’t explain. We never got going, we never really dictated the play, even in the second half, as we have done of late.

“The players are disappointed, especially at home, because we want to put on a performance, we want to win games. But we’re not getting too carried away, because the team we are playing today have been on a similar run of form to ourselves, they were sat in third, and they are having a great season themselves.

“What we want to do is enjoy the ride now. We know there are going to be injuries, suspensions, a loss of form, a bit of fatigue setting in, a little bit of tiredness and some injuries caused by fatigue.

“It’s my job now to manage the group in terms of their legs and their ability to perform at a high intensity day-to-day. I’ve got some big decisions coming up.”

He added: “If we’re to become strong, we need to look at nights like tonight. I need to learn from them, I need to be analytical of performances, and improve us.

“I don’t think we played particularly badly, but I don’t think we reached the standards we have set in the last six games. If we did that, we’d win the league by Christmas, I’d be managing Man United or England, and the chairman would be packing it in because it’s job done.

“I always says, it’s not when we’re winning consistently that will tell me how far we can take this club, it will be when the bad times are here and we struggle to put three or four results together. That will tell me how fare we can go.

“You have to look in the mirror, know where we are, where we want to get to, how we’re going to get there.”