Barrow AFC may have to wait another 10 days before their next match, against Eastleigh at Holker Street, but it is set to be a busy intervening period for manager Ian Evatt.

Evatt said following last Tuesday’s 4-2 defeat at Harrogate Town that he was prepared to ‘wheel and deal’ if it meant bringing extra steel into his squad, which he felt had become a soft touch.

As of yet, there hasn’t been much progress on any potential recruitment, with the Bluebirds able to make an informed choice in the break from match action they are currently going through.

That being said, last Saturday’s performance in the 1-0 loss at Ebbsfleet United was a big improvement from an AFC side that was shorn of seven first-team players through injury.

Evatt said: “There aren’t any advancements on bringing anyone in, at the moment, but we’ve got a couple of weeks now because of the break on Saturday.

“We’ve got two weeks to look at things, speak about things and work really hard on the training ground to improve.

“I couldn’t have been more proud of the players at Ebbsfleet because they were outstanding.

“They didn’t get the result they deserved, but sometimes in football, when things aren’t going your way, that’s what happens, you get punished for the smallest of mistakes.

“All we can do is roll our sleeves up, keep working hard and things will change.”

What did change at Stonebridge Road was that Barrow’s players didn’t let their heads drop after falling behind after Kyle Jameson’s slip allowed Danny Kedwell to open the scoring.

This was in contrast to their previous three games, where they fell apart in the away games at Chorley and Harrogate, either side of producing a flat display at home to Barnet after their first goal.

“We stuck together this time,” Evatt said. “We grafted and grinded it out and it was good to see.

“It is progress and it’s not the end of the world – we’re not in the relegation zone, we’re in the lower half of mid-table.

“We’re obviously aware of the run that we’re on, but every team goes through this sort of run at some stage and we’ve just to stick together and work as hard as we possibly can to change things as soon as possible.”