BARROW AFC’s squad has been bolstered by returning players in the last week – but Paul Cox is still ruing some big losses.

Richie Bennett and Liam Hughes came back from suspension in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Dagenham and Redbridge – the latter scoring from the spot.

Lindon Meikle also started and impressed in that fixture after spending 28 days on loan at National League rivals Southport – with Cox unable to recall him before that point.

Danny Livesey started the match after being left out of the first XI due to concussion issues for the previous two fixtures, and Barrow were able to name a full quota of five substitutes for the first time in two weeks.

But, while having those men back is a boon, there are still several players out of action.

Ross Hannah (hamstring) and Dan Rowe (knee) sat out the action once more against Dagenham, though are expected to be in contention for tonight’s visit of Wrexham (7.45pm kick-off).

Jordan Williams will still be out, however, as he serves the second of a two-match ban for picking up 10 yellow cards this season, and star striker Byron Harrison’s return from an ankle problem has been delayed.

Added to that, goalkeeper Joel Dixon, midfielder Andy Parry and striker Dan Cockerline have all undergone knee ligament surgery this season, all but ending their participation.

So, while Cox was pleased to see some men back on Saturday, he said: “We’ve had some massive players missing for us, and it will be lovely to get them all back – Byron, Jordan etc.

“I listened to John Still before we played them down there. They were going through an indifferent period where they had lost of two players through injury – big Doey (Scott Doe) at the back, (Andre) Boucard was missing.

“If you look at us, we’re missing a top-class goalkeeper in Joel, and I think people understand now just how good this kid could be. We’ve missed Byron Harrison, and we potentially have the best strike-force in the division, but we’re missing one of the top goal-scorers.

“We’re missing Ryan Yates and there are others. We’ve not moaned about it, we’ve just got on with it.

“There are lessons to be learned from it, but overall I never expected to be where we are at this stage. There is an expectation there now, we’ve got to be greedy and we have to go and try to achieve now.”

He added: “We’ve got Andy Parry, who will be involved with training, non-contact to start with, and will be back at some point.

“You look through the squad and we have had three ACLs this year. Dan Cockerline was on loan and scoring goals in the Conference North, and potentially he could have been a massive player for us this season.”