Barrow AFC manager Ian Evatt was frustrated to see midfielder Jason Taylor pick up a suspension during last Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Ebbsfleet United, despite him acting as peacemaker.

Taylor was captaining the Bluebirds at Stonebridge Road, in the absence of regular skipper Josh Granite, and had to step in as tempers boiled over deep into stoppage time.

A fracas that involved almost all of the players on the pitch was threatening to get out of hand, with referee Josh Smith struggling to regain control of the situation.

When the dust finally settled, Taylor was one of three players to be booked, alongside Barrow striker Jack Hindle and Ebbsfleet goalkeeper Nathan Ashmore.

As it was his fifth yellow card of the season, the 31-year-old will have to sit out AFC’s match against Eastleigh at Holker Street on November 17.

Evatt said: “I’m just really disappointed that we can’t review yellow cards because my captain went over to calm the situation down and was wrongfully booked and is now suspended.

“It’s frustrating that we can’t review that because all he was trying to do was calm the melee down, which is his job as a captain and a leader.

“For him to get booked for that was very disappointing.”

Taylor took on the armband after Granite, who was initially named in the starting line-up after recovering from a toe injury, had to pull out of the warm-up due to an ankle problem.

That meant Barrow were without three centre-backs for the game at Ebbsfleet, with Dan Jones and Matt Elsdon already out, as well as four strikers, leaving Hindle as the only fit front man.

With their squad stretched to the limit by injuries, it is to the Bluebirds’ credit that they managed to produce the level of performance they did in defeat.

Evatt said: “We’re a good side, although obviously we’re not getting the results we deserve at the minute, but that was more like my team that we saw out there.

“I hope every Barrow player will be proud of how they played.”

The injury situation should at least ease in AFC’s two-week break from match action, with Smith coming back from a tight hamstring and Rhys Turner and Elsdon nearing returns to training.