MICKY Moore says he is the man to get results from this Barrow AFC team – but he know he needs them soon.

The Bluebirds crashed out of the FA Cup to Northern Premier League Shaw Lane yesterday, a fourth defeat in five matches, and leaving them without a victory in eight games.

It was an embarrassing loss for the Bluebirds, who looked second-best almost from the first minute until the last.

They went behind to an early Spencer Harris – to the delight of the home fans numbering three-times their usual support – and despite Byron Harrison giving them a lifeline from the spot, were sunk by Damian Reeves’ winner.

Moore recognised his players had failed to perform with heart and passion, but said he was the right man to get the best out of them.

Asked if he was confident he was the man to lead the team to better results, he said: “Yeah. I haven’t become a bad manager or a bad person overnight.

“Last week against Leyton Orient was a fantastic performance and we should have won, it was a fantastic performance against Hartlepool and we should have won. I know people will say we didn’t, but we’ve got what we’ve got, and I’m getting the best out of what we have.

“Today, did we get the best out of them? No, I’m not going to hide that. We let ourselves down massively, and it was a missed opportunity.

“I can go in there and lambast the players, but I need the same set of players next Saturday and next Tuesday – but I lose another one, every game I’ve not been able to pick the same team. It doesn’t matter who you are, with the group of players we’ve got, you’re going to be affected by that.”

He added: “We need to get results and we need to get them quick.

“Performances have been good – I know today it wasn’t – but the last three or four have been good. I know we haven’t got the results, but very quickly we need to get the results now.”

Asked if he was feeling pressure after the recent run of results, he added: “You’re always going to be judged by results, and I understand that.

“I think in every single interview I have given, I have been honest in my assessment of what I have seen. I’ve never used any excuses, but I’m desperate to get players back. The players who I’m missing are men, and today it showed, it was men against boys. Eventually that is going to catch up with you.

“Today it showed, if you are missing the level of players that we are, at some stage it catches up with you.

“But I’ve got what I’ve got and I’ve got to get the best out of them. I feel I have been getting the best out of them – we’ve not had the rub of the green, and their work ethic, their desire and their commitment have been first-class, they really have. But today it wasn’t and they have let themselves down.”

Moore pointed to a lack of heart and desire as key to Barrow’s defeat, something he was especially disappointed with on the back of recent positive displays against Hartlepool and Leyton Orient.

“It’s a huge disappointment,” he added. “A missed opportunity.

“I’ve said all week that they are a good side. I’ve been to watch them twice, so nothing that happened today shocked me in terms of how they played and the way they were – I was not shocked or surprised, because for the level they play, they are a very good side and they are having a very good season.

“The lads were well aware of it. I made sure all week they knew their strengths and the areas where I thought we could beat them.

“Over the last couple of weeks, the performances have been of a really high standard, our wake-rate and desire have been excellent. But they were the two things today that weren’t right. It wasn’t technically or tactically where we lost today, it was through our work ethic, our desire, our commitment. It wasn’t there – I’ve never questioned that during my time, but today I feel that the lads didn’t show enough of it to get a result.”

Moore insisted there had been no underestimation of Shaw Lane, a side two divisions below AFC, but riding high and beaten only once at home all season.

He added: “That wasn’t an issue for me, it shouldn’t have been an issue, because they were warned about it. If they were, they certainly knew in the first half.

“We got ourselves back into the game in the second half. I thought the second half we probably dominated a little bit more, but then we shoot ourselves in the foot, we concede from another restart, and it’s hugely disappointing.”