TEENAGE loan ace Ryan Yates is keen to take full advantage of his extended spell with Barrow AFC.

The 18-year-old will remain at Holker Street for a second month, after the Bluebirds reached agreement with parent club club Nottingham Forest to lengthen his stay.

Yates has looked the part in his four starts for Barrow since arriving at the end of August, helping the club to extend their unbeaten run to six matches and featuring in wins at Southport and Lincoln last week.

He is sure to be in contention for another start as York City come to town tomorrow, and feels he can keep improving with every opportunity he gets in the National League (3pm kick-off).

“I still don't think I've reached my full potential, but with games to come, I think I can improve,” said Yates, whose stay with Barrow will now run to late October. “I think I've been doing all right though – and the gaffer is playing me, so I must be doing something right!

“I just want to play football. I'm enjoying it wherever I play – at Forest or at Barrow.”

The challenge of moving from playing under-23s football at Forest to being in among the National League ranks has been one Yates has relished.

The physical nature of the battle has stood out to him, but the City Ground youngster feels he has adapted well with the help of manager Paul Cox.

He said: “It's a new challenge for me. It's been really good playing men's football – it's been a lot different to what I have been playing at Forest with the Under-23s. It has been a really good learning curve for me.

“It has taken me a couple of weeks to get into it, because it's a different style of football in the Conference, but the manager has looked after me really well and he has been talking to me about how to adapt and things like that.

“It has all been really good and I'm really enjoying it.”

He added: “I didn't really know what to expect. I was just going into it to get some experience of playing men's football.

“The ball hasn't been on the floor as much, and they don't mind leaving an elbow on you. It's all about winning games – it's not really about development, it about the three points on a Saturday. That has been the main difference from the under-23s.”

Yates has come into a Barrow team who have risen steadily up the National League rankings over the past week.

The Bluebirds sit fourth ahead of tomorrow's match with the Minstermen and, while Yates expects it to be a tough match, he feels AFC can maintain their run.

“I can't see any reason why we can't carry on with the form we've been showing,” he said. “We dropped four points (in draws against Bromley and Boreham Wood), and if we hadn't dropped those four points, we might have been top of the league. That's football, but I can't see any reason why we can't win at home this weekend – we've been solid at home all season.”