Ian Evatt may be about to make changes to his squad at Barrow AFC, but he’ll soon be able to call upon some important players from those currently at Holker Street.

Captain Josh Granite could make his return at Ebbsfleet United tomorrow after a toe injury kept the 26-year-old centre back out of the Bluebirds’ last three games, where they’ve sorely missed his defensive capabilities.

Granite being available again would give AFC an extra physical presence at the back and they will soon have something similar up front, with striker Rhys Turner not far off coming back from a fractured foot.

Evatt said: “Rhys is huge for us and he’s getting there. He’ll hopefully be back in training next week, so we’re getting people back fit again.

“Hopefully Josh Granite could be fit for the weekend as well because we’ve missed his leadership.

“We just need to work very hard to put things right – luckily for us, we had a decent start to the season and we are mid-table.

“Every team goes through this sort of run and we just need to knuckle down now and work hard on putting things right.”

Top scorer Tyler Smith will play no part at Stonebridge Road, with the striker resting a tight hamstring as a precautionary measure.

Evatt does have an extra attacking option at his disposal, though, after winger Astley Mulholland, a summer signing from Colwyn Bay, made his first start for Barrow in the 4-2 defeat at Harrogate Town.

Mulholland lasted 62 minutes on Tuesday before he was replaced by Jack Hindle, as part of a triple substitution made by Evatt in an attempt to salvage the game, but the AFC boss insists it was no reflection of his performance.

“Astley came off because he’s hardly played any football,” Evatt said, adding: “He did great for us in the first half, I must say he was outstanding. He took his chance really well.

“Tyler Smith again worked tirelessly and there are three or four who are performing consistently every week, while the others are consistently inconsistent and the inconsistent side is taking over at the minute.”