BARROW AFC captain Danny Livesey said the Bluebirds defence must take responsibility for Saturday's FA Trophy collapse at Tranmere.

After leading 1-0 following Jordan Williams' early goal, and having gone in at half-time locked at 1-1 with their hosts in the quarter-final clash, Barrow were soundly beaten 5-1 after 90 minutes.

Rovers scored four goals inside 25 minutes – with Cole Stockton netting a hat-trick – to emphatically end Barrow's participation in the competition.

Manager Paul Cox felt his side had let the travelling supporters down with their display, and Livesey acknowledged that the back-five – of himself, goalkeeper Jon Flatt and defenders Lurke Burke, Nick Anderton and Moussa Diarra – deserved to be criticised.

“The feeling was disappointment,” said Livesey of the result and the performance. “We let ourselves down. To go in at 1-1 and then lose four goals in the second half, that should never happen.

“That was the most disappointing thing. Myself and all of the back five took the main responsibility, which we should do when we concede five goals – fingers should be pointed at the back four and the goalkeeper.

“We've gone in there and we've had it out with each other, trying to make sure that it doesn't happen again.

“To be fair, it hasn't happened too often. I can't remember us ever having five put past us (the last time was a 5-0 defeat at Bromley in the National League in October 2015).”

Barrow head to Guiseley on Tuesday night looking to bounce back quickly and put some new impetus into their National League promotion push.

Livesey hopes the defence will show that what happened at Tranmere was a one-off, and said: “As a back four, we pride ourselves on keeping tight and keeping clean sheets. We've got one of the best defensive records in the league, and we have to make sure that this is just a blip.

“Ultimately, we've taken full responsibility for it. It's not good enough and we have to make sure we go again.”