NEW Barrow AFC striker Harry Panayiotou will make his first appearance in a Bluebirds shirt this midweek.

The former Leicester City front-man signed a two-year deal at Holker Street last week, and was on the bench as an unused substitute for Saturday’s 2-0 victory over York City.

Manager Paul Cox decided it was not the right time to field him in a competitive game, with the need for the 21-year-old to boost his match fitness having been without a club since being released by the Foxes in the summer.

Instead, Panayiotou is in line to play the majority of a behind-closed doors match against Fleetwood Town on Wednesday – a match which will also feature a number of triallists and members of the Barrow squad who have had reduced game-time of late.

“He’s a project and we need to get him fitter and in better shape,” Cox said of St Kitts and Nevis international Panayiotou. “That’s not because he has been lazy, or anything like that, it’s because he’s not had a lot of game-time.

“The kid just needs putting on a stage and we hope that when we put him on a stage here at Barrow, he shows what he can do, the fans embrace him, he improves, and he takes us to where we want to be.”