BARROW AFC's eight loan signings are forcing manager Paul Cox into a delicate balancing act for every fixture.

The Bluebirds have an octet of loanees in their numbers, but can only name five for any one match-day squad.

Jon Flatt, Luke Burke, Matty Platt, Dan Rowe, Akil Wright, Jack Thomas, Connor Thomson and Shaun Tuton are all with Barrow until the end of the season.

Over the past few weeks, Cox has found himself having to determine which of those eight will either start or feature on the bench for AFC's fixtures – with Wolves stopper Flatt a shoe-in at goalkeeper and any four from the remaining seven making the cut.

Blackburn Rovers defender Platt has yet to feature, while attacker Tuton has been in the squad for every match since arriving from Barnsley, with the remaining five moving in and out of the line-up.

Flatt, Rowe and Tuton all played in the 1-0 defeat to Guiseley on Tuesday, with Thomson and Platt unused substitutes, with Cox having to decide who makes the match-day 16 against Sutton United tomorrow (3pm kick-off).

The AFC manager looks to the positives in the situation, whereby he is guaranteed at least three players will be rested after any fixture, but admitted the situation was something to be looked at for next season.

He said: “It's always tough, not just for myself, but for the players who have come in.

“It's a situation we find ourselves in. It's something we have to learn by, when we look at strategies and plans. This is a massive learning curve for us all.

“It's a situation we find ourselves in, and one we will use as a positive and not a negative. There are other ways we could have done it, but the way it has worked out is what it is. It's something we have to embrace and use it as positive.

“There are five from the eight, which means that three of them are going to be disappointed on a game-to-game basis. In a positive way, we are always going to have some fresh legs in these last 13 games.

“When you look at it, the 11 we had – I think our 11 would match anything in this league, and potentially could have been champions. Going forward, we have to look as a club at the dynamics, the strength-in-depth, the quality of the whole squad of contracted players. That is something, going forward, we have to look at and learn from to make sure if we are in the same position again, we have educated ourselves.

“That's not just with regards to the player situation. The things that have not been right with the club this year, we've got to make sure going forward that we're not making the same mistakes and that we're open-minded to growth and changes. That's key in this football club growing and achieving.”

Looking at his three most recent acquisitions – Burke, Thomson and Platt – who all came in from Championship clubs, where they played the majority of their games at under-23s level, Cox feels they have been surprised by the level of football played in the National League.

Burke played five times for Wigan Athletic in the Championship this season, but has found the intensity of non-league's top-flight higher than expected.

“Some of the lads have come in, and sometimes it's very hard for some of them to come in and hit the ground running,” Cox said. “It's totally different football to under-23s.

“We've got people like Luke Burke who have come in, and I was having a conversation with him and he can't believe the tenacity and how high the tempo is at this level of football. The lad has played in the Championship this season, and he couldn't understand the lack of time you get on the ball with the opposition closing you down, the intensity of the games. This is what we have to take into account with the loans.

“With Platty, he has done excellently. He's come into training, he's sat and watched in the training and the games. It's one of those situations where, if he gets the opportunity now, I think the boy is ready to take it.”