HE may not have fancied his chances of stopping Ross Hannah's thunderbolt of a free-kick last weekend, but Barrow loan keeper Jon Flatt has been pulling off some impressive saves.

The 22-year-old Wolverhampton Wanderers loanee has made a strong impact between the sticks since joining the Bluebirds at the start of the year.

Having been thrown in at the deep end for the FA Cup third-round clash with Rochdale and in the middle of AFC's blip in form, the former Cheltenham Town man – who won the National League crown with the Robins last season – has steadily found his feet.

Crucial stops against Kidderminster, Macclesfield and Aldershot have helped Barrow to wins or draws in big games, and he has produced a string of top-drawer saves along the way.

“It's been really good,” said Flatt, who will make his 10th Bluebirds appearance in tomorrow's home game with Torquay United (3pm kick-off). “I feel like I've settled in well. The lads have been really good with me and I feel like I've settled into the squad nicely.

“I've played nine games, so I've had a good run and I feel like the best is coming out of me. I'm really enjoying it.”

He added: “I'd like to think I've done pretty well. Some games we have been unlucky, where there has been lack of concentration around the pitch and we haven't picked up the results where we should have.

“It does play on your mind when you're not picking results up when you come into a team, but I feel personally that it has gone well, and now it's a combination that I've been doing all right and, more importantly, the team have picked up and we're getting points.

“That's the main thing – that we're knocking on the play-offs and getting as high up the league table as possible.”

Platt was at the other end of the field when Hannah hit his 95th-minute equaliser at Aldershot last weekend, feeling no-one could have stopped it and knowing the effort was heading in from the moment it left the striker's boot.

He was also between the stick to make a series of stops in the dramatic 1-0 success at Macclesfield on Wednesday, and he feels the team are starting to get back to their best.

“I'm feeling good, and now we're starting to pick up, we've got a couple of good results and, hopefully, we can kick on and take it into the games coming up,” he said.

“You only learn about the players through training and games. You get to know how players like different things, where they're going to be in relation to the game.

“Now that we've played quite a few games, we're beginning to get a good understanding. Hopefully, they (the AFC defence) are getting a good understanding of me. It's been really helpful that we've had such a number of games in quite a short period of time.

“Realistically, I'd be more than happy to not have anything to do all game, and we'd pick up wins. But football's not like that.

“I want people to know that I will be ready when called upon. On Wednesday night, if I was needed to chip in and do anything, I did. We can all chip in together and on Wednesday, for a prime example, it was a whole team effort and we came away with a big win.”