AFTER a frustrating start to his time at Barrow Raiders due to injury, Tom Walker believes he is starting to make an impression ahead of the meeting with his former side Workington Town this evening.

It was during the pre-season friendly against Oldham that the prop first suffered the hamstring injury which would dog him, followed by it reoccurring when he attempted to return to training in a bid to be ready for the competitive matches.

But since making his bow off the interchange bench in the Challenge Cup win over Rochdale Mayfield, Walker has been ever-present in the Raiders' match-day squad, and believes there is plenty more to come from both him and his team-mates.

“Obviously it wasn't the start I wanted. I played the first friendly against Oldham and I thought it was going pretty well, but unfortunately I got injured and then did it again a couple of weeks later,” said Walker.

“I probably came back a bit too soon, so the past month for me has just been trying to find my feet, get my timing right and earn my place in the time.

“I think I've got a lot more to show this year and the way the lads have been playing, I think we've been picking up pretty convincing wins without playing our best rugby so it's quite scary to see what we could be like.

“Especially on a dry track and when the summer comes, I think we'll be a force to be reckoned with.”

Walker has settled into life at Barrow off the field as well, where he has taken a job working in the club's community department alongside fellow forward and house-mate Joe Bullock – scrum-half Lewis Charnock also lives with them – and another ex-Workington player, Brett Carter.

Despite being just 22, Walker brings with him the experience of over 50 games at Championship level with Town and several years in the youth set-up at Super League side Warrington Wolves, having started out playing at Cockermouth.

But he is eager to tap into the experience of team-mates like Ollie Wilkes and Martin Aspinwall, along with learning from some of the battle-hardened opponents he will come up against this year in League One.

“It's pretty similar to the Championship, except maybe slightly slower, but on the flip-side it's almost more physical,” said Walker.

“You've got Super League, where you've got to be fit and fast, but some of the physicality of the lower leagues is absolutely unbelievable. I thought the Championship was physical, but you get some right grubs in these lowers leagues and I'm learning a lot from it.

“There are players in these lower leagues who have been around – Wilkesy has been around for 20 years! There are some players who are knocking about with real experience and, obviously, you can learn a lot from them.”

Despite it being a winter of change up the coast at Derwent Park, there will still be several faces familiar to Walker when Workington – now coached by former Barrow boss Dave Clark – come to Craven Park tonight (kick-off 6.30pm).

Indeed, it will be something of a reunion for several Raiders players, with Carter, Jarrad Stack and Declan Hulme having made the move south during the off-season as well following Town's relegation from the Championship.

Sadly, Carter will miss out as he continues his recovery from surgery on a facial injury sustained in the 82-0 win over Hemel Stags and while Walker is braced for an all-action Cumbrian derby, he is urging Barrow to continue with the mindset which has seen them make an unbeaten start to the year.

“I think Workington were in a bit of a bad situation last season and obviously I was involved in that, but they seem to have come through it quite well,” said Walker.

“I know a few of the lads who still play for them and how gamey they are, and they'll all be up for a big Cumbrian derby. I've got friends up there and I'm looking forward to getting back out there and playing against them.

“But more importantly, we need to worry about ourselves. We were saying at the weekend, no matter who we play – whether it's Workington, Toronto, or if it's Gloucestershire – it doesn't matter who it is.

“We've got to stop concentrating on other teams because it's only us who are going to beat ourselves this year. All we're going to do is concentrate on ourselves and not get too ahead of the occasion with it being a derby, or me playing against my old club.”

* Anyone wanting to watch some rugby league tomorrow can head to Rating Lane where Barrow Island Ladies are playing Bradford Bulls (kick-off 2pm).