PAUL Cox plans to start making decisions on the future of Barrow AFC’s trialists sooner rather than later as the start of the National League season gets ever closer.

Bluebirds boss Cox gave all six of the trialists currently with the squad plenty of minutes in Tuesday evening’s 1-0 win over Motherwell and is likely to do so again when the team head to Boston United tomorrow.

The 45-year-old still has places in the squad he believes need filling and is optimistic some of the promising young players he is running the rule over will be able to do just that, including ones with experience of playing abroad.

However, Cox is eager to get their futures sorted with the first league game of the year against Dagenham and Redbridge just over three weeks away, and it is likely the process will begin over the coming days.

“We’ve had to work hard in the summer and we’ve got to work hard now because there are still some ingredients missing from the squad – dare I say from the 11,” said Cox.

“We need some quality bringing in, but I just think it’s where we are as a club at the moment that we’re able to attract players now.

“We’re looking at different countries to sign players and we had trialists who’ve played in Holland and France on Tuesday – good young players who I think are going to improve.

“The big thing is we’ve got to make decisions on them and look at the ones we think are going to take us forward. Everyone has worked hard, everyone has put in a shift again and it’s positive.”

The departures of Jordan Williams and Nick Anderton to EFL sides Rochdale and Blackpool respectively have left openings to fill, while Joel Dixon’s continuing injury problems mean Cox wants to bring in another goalkeeper to challenge Stuart Moore.

The latter is likely to be in the form of a loan deal and it could well be trialist stopper Colin McCabe who fills that void, with his name being listed on the updated team-sheet for the Motherwell friendly.

However, Cox has not revealed the identity of his other five trialists or the defender he is aiming to conclude a deal with ahead of the match against Boston, as he does not want Barrow’s rivals to snatch any targets from their grasp.

“We want to make sure if we look to take them, we don’t want to be out-bid by other clubs,” said Cox.

“There has been a lot of that happening in the close-season and the amount of money being spent at the minute is frightening.

“But I think we’re building in the right way and if you go back to the departures in the summer, everyone looks at it as a negative.

“But as a manager, you’ve just got to get on with your job and rebuild again, and if we can bring in quality players like Jordan Williams and Nick Anderton, it’s a positive for the club.”

On the pitch, Cox is aiming to continue the progress he believes has been made so far in pre-season at National League North side Boston tomorrow.

The encounter will see him come up against a familiar face in the opposition dugout in the form of Adam Murray, who served as Cox’s assistant during his time in charge of Mansfield Town and took over at York Street last year.

Cox is impressed with the team his former number two has put in place at Boston, while Murray has placed an emphasis on increasing the physicality of his side to cope with the demands of their division in the 2017/8 season.

“We’ve got a lot of pace in the team,” Murray told the Boston Standard . “Because we’re a young team we need a lot of physical attributes.

“I think a third of the goals scored at this level are from set-pieces, so we need the ugly side as well. We’re getting there.

“There is a rawness about this level still. When you’re coming up against the likes of York that have got (Jon) Parkin and (Michael) Rankine up top you will have to defend against that.

“We want good footballers but we’re going to have to win a lot of battles and wars.”

It will, therefore, be a much different test for Barrow than the matches against Blackburn Rovers and Scottish Premiership outfit Motherwell, but that is exactly what Cox wants.

Indeed, the Barrow manager does not believe in easing into pre-season as he is keen to expose any issues which might need working on before the competitive matches begin.

“We placed it in there because it will be a proper non-league game,” said Cox. “I want it to test us mentally and physically, I want it to test every part of the squad.

“It will be a really tough game, but I don’t want easy games during pre-season; if it’s about problem-solving, I want to know the problems and sort them now.

“I think some people wrap the players up in pre-season then get surprised when all hell lets loose when the season starts.

“We’re in a tough, physical, uncompromising league where you can’t afford to have an off-day, and I think it will be our hardest game of pre-season so far.”