Barrow AFC need to find a way of transferring the confidence they keep showing on the training ground into their matches, according to assistant manager Peter Atherton.

During what was a two-week build-up to last Saturday’s match against Eastleigh at Holker Street, the Bluebirds were boosted by the return to training of six injured first-team players.

They had also performed well in their previous match at Ebbsfleet United and it had been hoped that their positive display would boost their self-belief.

That, sadly, wasn’t the case, as they crashed to a disappointing 3-0 defeat against the Spitfires, with the players’ confidence seeming to drain away after Paul McCallum beat the offside trap from a goal kick, of all things, to open the scoring in the 14th minute.

The loss was AFC’s sixth in a row, in all competitions, with Atherton saying: “We have to keep going and the confidence has been good.

“We had two weeks to work at it, the work on the training field had been ever so good and we were very confident going into the game - not over-confident but just happy with the way the two weeks had gone.

“Unfortunately, on the day it came down to the first goal and when we concede goals like that, it’s a knock to our confidence and it gives the opposition something to build on. We do it on the training ground and it’s a case of transferring that on to the pitch.”