BARROW AFC boss Paul Cox has urged the club to capitalise on their lofty position in the National League after a 4-1 win at Dagenham and Redbridge, writes NED KEATING.

First-half goals from Liam Hughes and Byron Harrison gave the Bluebirds the lead at Victoria Road.

Richie Bennett added a third with 15 minutes gone in the second half, and though Corey Whitely struck for the hosts, Harrison rounded off the win from the spot.

The victory moves Barrow above their hosts up to third in the standings , just three points behind leaders Forest Green Rovers with a game in hand, and Cox hopes his team are still in the upper echelons comes April.

“The psychological edge doesn’t mean much to me, as it’s early days yet,” he said.

“I won this title with Mansfield Town when in January we were in 10th and 10 points off the top.

“What the win does, we’ve made sure people are aware of who we are, what we are and what we can achieve if we continue in the vain we have.

“There’s still a million and one things for us to improve on. Our depth and quality is lacking behind the big boys, like the Forest Greens, and I want to make sure we cater for that.

“We’re here on merit and we want to stay there, consistently affecting the high end of the table.

“There needs to be some serious planning going forward to make sure these boys who are working ever so hard have that little bit of help when they need it.”

Cox knows what it takes to get out of the National League, having won the title with Mansfield in 2012/13.

But the Barrow boss believes his current crop of players at Holker Street are better placed than the Stags squad he assembled to win the title.

“They’re very similar as a group of players, very honest, but there’s probably more ability in this group technically," he added.

"The league is stronger this year than the year that I won it with Mansfield. You look at the resources of some of the clubs, the history, the attendances, the fan base of some of them, it’s becoming such a strong league.

"If you look at our points total now, someone told me we were on the same amount of points as Cheltenham Town (the eventual champions), had at this stage last year, which shows you how strong it is this year.

"We want to cement where we are and we need to plan accordingly."

Full match report and action pictures from the game here .