The Bluebirds reached a total of 68 points with victory at Chester on Tuesday, topping the mark of last season and 1981/82 – though the latter total came in a 42-game season rather than the present 46.
That tally from 40 games so far has AFC sitting sixth in the National League, only out of the play-off places on goal difference and on course to beat their best-ever finish in the division – eighth, also in 1981/82.
Victory tomorrow over relegation-battling Maidstone would take Barrow closer to the 80-point-mark Cox believes should be enough to make the top-five come the end of the campaign – it was the total Grimsby and Dover achieved in finishing fourth and fifth respectively last year.
AFC have arguably one of the easier run-ins of the teams in the top-eight who are chasing promotion.
They face only one of their rivals in the remaining fixtures – Dover on the last day of the season – while the majority play two, or in Dover’s case three.
Tuesday’s win over Chester used up the game in hand the Bluebirds had over Gateshead and Aldershot, but Cox was delighted to have the three points, and said: “Now, with six games to go, you want the points on the board.
“My thing was – and it’s not just my thing, it’s driving this squad on, and this squad is driving me on – the desire to make the play-offs.
“If it doesn’t work, then as long as we are going forward, I don’t really mind.
“I know there is a desire in the dressing room to get in the play-offs. If we were to do it, I think we would have over-achieved this season.
“What we’ve done already has been mind-blowing – and it will take some beating next year.”
He added: “It’s 12 points now to get to 80. I can guarantee now that we’re not going to win every game between now and the end of the season – I can guarantee that not everyone else will win every game between now and the end of the season.
“What we’ve got to do is enjoy it, make it interesting, and we’ve really got to just go for it and try to win every game.
“If we don’t win a game, it’s not the end of the world. If we go down to Maidstone and we don’t win, it’s not the end of the world. I can guarantee that it will come down to some bizarre results.
“I’m prepared for the last game of the season, to play Dover with everything riding on it. Whatever happens, what a really interesting season we’ve had. We’ve had a 26-game unbeaten run, reached the third round of the FA Cup and quarter-finals of the FA Trophy – and it could all be decided on the last game of the season.
“If it comes earlier, if we fail, then the business side of me will say, ‘what are we doing from now on?’. We’ve got to make sure that, if we were to fail, then, we look at where we have failed and make sure it doesn’t happen again. That’s pressure on me, but I enjoy the pressure.
“This at the minute, this isn’t pressure – I’m enjoying this, this is brilliant. I never really thought we would be in this position.”
Achieving the 68-point total for the season in midweek was just the latest record to be broken by Barrow under Cox this season.
Their 26-match unbeaten run across all competitions between August and September was another, as was the 19-game Conference streak without defeat contained within that effort.
Cox hopes there will be more building taking place in the close-season, whichever division AFC are in, to help him and the players do more of the same next year.
He said: “We want to keep breaking records. I will challenge myself, challenge the chairman, challenge the players to go again.
“I’ve said whatever the scenario this season, this club has to build, this club has to show everybody that this is not just a quick fix.
“It has to be that we look at what we’ve got, whether we’re in the play-offs or not, whether we’re in League Two or the Conference, and develop everything – from the infrastructure to developing young local kids to adding to the good nucleus of players we’ve got.
“Everyone who knows me, knows that I haven’t come here for a get-rich-quick scheme, I came here for a building project. Now, we’ve got to concentrate on the next six games, because that’s our focal point, but I’ll also be planning for the medium and long-term.
“Whatever scenario happens at the end of the season, we have to make sure this club is building on where it is. That excites me, and it’s something I’m looking forward to.”
LINCOLN
April 1: Bromley (H); April 3: Dagenham and Redbridge (H); April 8: Eastleigh (A); April 11: Chester (H); April 14: Torquay United (H); April 17: Gateshead (A); April 22: Macclesfield Town (H); April 25: Maidstone United (A); April 29: Southport (A).
TRANMERE ROVERS
April 1: Wrexham (A); April 4: Sutton United (H); April 8: Solihull Moors (H); April 11: Forest Green Rovers (H); April 14: Aldershot Town (H); April 17: Guiseley (A); April 22: Southport (H); April 29: Maidstone United (A).
FOREST GREEN ROVERS
April 1: North Ferriby United (H); April 8: Guiseley (A); April 11: Tranmere Rovers (A); April 14: Chester (H); April 17: Southport (A); April 22: Maidstone United (H); April 29: York City (A).
DAGENHAM AND REDBRIDGE
April 1: Eastleigh (H): April 3: Lincoln City (A); April 8: Macclesfield Town (A); April 14: Boreham Wood (A); April 17: Sutton United (H); April 22: Wrexham (A); April 29: Woking (H).
ALDERSHOT TOWN
April 1: Solihull Moors (A); April 8: Torquay United (H); April 14: Tranmere Rovers (A); April 17: Dover Athletic (H); April 22: North Ferriby United (A); April 29: Braintree Town (H).
BARROW
April 1: Maidstone United (A); April 8: Woking (H): April 14: Bromley (A); April 17: North Ferriby United (H); April 22: Braintree Town (A); April 29: Dover Athletic (H).
GATESHEAD
April 1: Dover Athletic (A); April 8: Maidstone United (H); April 14: Sutton United (A); April 17: Lincoln City (H); April 22: Boreham Wood (A); April 29: Bromley (H).
DOVER ATHLETIC
April 1: Gateshead (H); April 8: Braintree Town (A); April 14: Southport (H); April 17: Aldershot Town (A); April 22: Torquay United (H); April 25: Macclesfield Town (H); April 29: Barrow AFC (A).
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