Barrow AFC manager Ian Evatt is hoping his side can pick up a result that matches their performance when they face Aldershot Town at the Recreation Ground tomorrow.

The Bluebirds make the long trip down to Hampshire off the back of six straight defeats, in all competitions, although not all of those tell the full story.

Whereas the losses at Chorley and Harrogate came after second-half collapses, Evatt’s side could consider themselves very unfortunate to come away from Bromley and Ebbsfleet with nothing to show for their efforts.

They will, however, have to come up with a far better display than what they produced on their own patch against Eastleigh last Saturday, which ended in a fairly miserable 3-0 reverse.

Evatt said: “We are working immensely hard on putting this run behind us.

“Probably if you take last Saturday’s game out of it – where we gave away mistakes and goals at key times – we haven’t played as badly as the run suggests.

“At Ebbsfleet, we were fantastic and if we’d have seen the game out properly at Chorley we would have won comfortably, we should have beaten Bromley comfortably.

“We’ve performed not too bad in most of the games, but the results haven’t been there and that’s got to change quickly and we’re working hard to get that.”

Aldershot had a weekend to forget last week as well, as they were thrashed 4-0 at Salford City, but unlike Barrow they had a quick chance to raise their confidence.

It’s one they made the most of, as they took League One side Bradford City to a penalty shoot-out in their FA Cup first round replay at Valley Parade on Tuesday night, which Evatt witnessed, before eventually succumbing.

Evatt said: “They obviously had a great result, taking it all the way to penalties against a League One team, but I’ve got a good idea of what we’re going to do on Saturday and how we’re going to do it, without giving the game away.”

What should help the Bluebirds is that some of the players who were making their comebacks from injuries in the match with Eastleigh should be sharper for the minutes they gained.

Striker Rhys Turner took to the field for the first time in three months after recovering from a fractured foot, while captain Josh Granite was playing for the first time in a month after toe and ankle problems.

“All of a sudden, the players are knowing that there is huge competition for places now,” Evatt said, adding: “But they need to start performing and performing quickly if they’re going to keep their place in the team, it’s that simple.”

Evatt was encouraged by what he saw from recent signing Kemy Agustien, who looked assured in midfield on his debut against the Spitfires and didn’t look too rusty despite his lack of match practice.

Evatt said: “He looked OK, I still feel like there’s a hell of a lot more to come, but for his debut and having not played many games in the last couple of years, I thought he did very well.

“He’s a very talented footballer, he’s experienced and obviously he’s played at the highest level [for Swansea], so he’s got a bit of class about him.

“He can see a pass, he looks to bring the ball forward at every opportunity, whether that’s a small pass or one that gets us to the other end of the pitch. He’ll be a huge asset for us.”