PAUL Cox believes Dagenham and Redbridge are one of the prime contenders for the National League crown – but that will not stop his Barrow AFC side going for victory tomorrow.

The Bluebirds face one of the toughest starts imaginable to their bid for a top-seven place as they travel to the Victoria Stadium (3pm kick-off).

Without top-scorer Byron Harrison – whose recovery from ankle surgery is going well, and who is due back in three weeks – Andy Parry, David Fitzpatrick and Joel Dixon through injury, Barrow make the long trip to east London knowing it will take a big performance to claim the three points.

But that is just what they produced in a 4-1 thumping last November, and Cox – who will hand full debuts to the likes of goalkeeper Stuart Moore, defenders Thierry Audel and Dan Jones, and striker Adi Yussuf tomorrow – will head into the game with a positive plan.

“My mind-set will never change – we will go down there, we will try to be positive and try to win the football match,” he said. “I can't do anything other than that.

“There always has to be element of respect, but I think over the last 18 months to two years, our club has come a long, long way. We want to go down there and try to implement our game-plan, and try to play our game.

“I'm sure if we do that, then we are quite capable of getting a positive result.”

Tomorrow's game is followed by back-to-back home matches against FC Halifax Town and Woking.

Cox has set no initial targets for the open string of matches, with seven to be played before the end of the month, but is hoping for a positive start, with the main focus on the position come the end of the season.

“In this league, especially for the first four to eight weeks, there is a lot toing and a lot of froing,” he said. “There are a lot of managers who will find out about their squads; there will be some who have had a positive season and start on a negative, and vice-versa.

“As I've said before, I've never really got off to a good start at this level, but it doesn't really concern me, because – as we saw last year – it's about being in among a group of teams and it's the business-end of the season I am always focused on.

“We want a positive start for our supporters, and we want to make sure we are picking up good home wins. If we can get three points away from home, that's even better. It's going to be a really tough league, and we're anticipating everything I think it will be.”

As for tomorrow's opponents, Cox added: “You have always got to look at three things in terms of teams who are going to be promoted. You look at the size of the club and budget, the players they have recruited, and then I look at the person who is in charge. At Dagenham, you've got a guy who has won this league, been promoted to the Football League more than anyone else at our level.

“They have recruited excellently, and they are not long a Football League club. They were only relegated two seasons ago. They have kept their nucleus and that's a positive in them being up there with a number of teams looking to get promoted.”