BLUEBIRDS boss Paul Cox can see a quite confidence building in his Barrow AFC side as they continue to impress in the National League.

A haul of 21 points from their first 11 matches has left AFC sitting pretty in fourth place in the table, just three points leaders Dagenham and Redbridge, and ahead of the likes of Tranmere, Eastleigh and Wrexham.

Their six-game unbeaten run will be put on the line against York City this weekend, but results such as last week's 4-1 triumph over Southport and the 2-1 success against Lincoln City have seen the squad start to enjoy themselves.

Cox hopes that continues, and said: “I think confidence is growing. I don't think anybody's jumping up and down about it though. I think the whole group know the potential in the dressing room and what we are capable of, but they also know that we have got to keep our feet firmly on the ground and we've got to make sure that we improve on certain things.

“The boys enjoyed Saturday. They enjoyed last Tuesday night as well. We didn't get too down after the last two home games, because we knew that this was a steep learning curve with the tough fixtures we've had.

“Some of the lads are starting to relax and enjoy their football.”

Only two defeats from the opening 11 fixtures marks a strong run for Barrow, though the manager recognises that good results do not always mean there have been good performances.

However, he feels a similar situation is developing to last season, when the team lost just three times after the turn of the year having started to pick up both points and confidence as matches went by.

“It's very similar to last year, in terms of the chicken or the egg scenario,” Cox added. “Do performances come before results, or do results come before performances? Do the results improve the performances?

“I think there has been a little bit of soul-searching and an understanding in the group. I still think there is a lot we can learn from each other, that the players can learn from each other, and there is a lot more we can improve on. I know I sound like a scratched record on that, but I really do feel that we haven't reached our potential yet.

“I still think there is more to come from the players. Look at Yatesy (loan midfielder Ryan Yates), from Forest. He's come in, he's had a look initially, we left him out and gave him a little taste, and he is improving as a player with every game he plays. His understanding with Al-Ray (Harvey) is growing.

“I left the side very much the same for three or four games, and you start to get an understanding as an 11. That feeling then comes a little bit quicker.”

Cox feels the team are ahead of where they would have expected to be by this stage in the campaign, but still wants his players to seek out more success.

“I think we're ahead of schedule of where we should be,” he said. “I never envisaged we would have lost just two games at this stage of the season.

“I think there is more to come from the boys, but we've got to be greedy and I have challenged the boys to be greedy and to go and grab and bite and scratch for everything that is in front of them now. The last two performances have shown that our ability with the ball is a lot better than we are given credit for when we relax and we're a little bit more composed.”