Manager Ian Evatt is hoping for a much more open game when Barrow AFC face Barnet tomorrow, with their hosts needing results to haul themselves out of trouble.

A side-effect of the Bees’ superb FA Cup run – where they took Championship side Brentford to a replay in the fourth round – is that they are having to play catch-up in the National League.

Darren Currie’s side have as many as five games in hand on the teams around them, but they are still having to nervously look over their shoulders as they have been roped into the scrap against relegation.

The fact that they need the points on their own patch should mean a different contest from last Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Ebbsfleet United, who frustrated the Bluebirds with their spoiling tactics.

Evatt said: “I think it will be a proper football match, which I’m looking forward to, to be honest.

“I’m looking forward to playing someone that will try and attack us and hopefully leave space for us to counter attack.

“Obviously they’ve had a great cup run, which has caused them a bit of a fixture backlog and Chesterfield had a good result there on Tuesday night, so they need points on the board.

“It’s going to be a really difficult game, they’re a good side, but hopefully we can go there and play the way we have been of late.

“We’re on a good run of form – we’ve probably had too many draws, but we’re playing well and hopefully we can get the three points.”

Barnet’s 2-0 defeat against fellow strugglers Chesterfield in midweek not only allowed the Spireites to leapfrog them in the table, but it also kept them just two points clear of the relegation zone.

They did defeat Barrow 2-0 in the reverse fixture at Holker Street last October, but while AFC have picked up their form in the months since, the Bees have seen results slide, not winning in the league since December 29.

Evatt said: “I don’t think there’s any such position as a ‘false’ one because you’ve still got to get points on the board.

“As I said, they’re going to be going all out and at the minute they’re in a relegation battle, that’s a fact, and they’ll be fighting for their lives.

“We’ve got to make sure we match that effort and determination and then hopefully our football will come into fruition and we’ll go on to win the game.”

The match at The Hive is the first of four games in the space of ten days for the Bluebirds, who will be playing seven matches in total during what is a busy March.

That is as many times as they took to the field in January and February combined, with a couple of blank weekends – down to their early exit from the FA Trophy – disrupting their schedule.

“We’re looking forward to it,” Evatt said, adding: “Sometimes you’re scratching your head as to what to do when you’ve got no game on.

“We’ve had a lot of time off and we want to get down to business, get points on the board and hopefully push towards that top ten.

“I think we’ll utilise the squad where we can and we’ve only lost one [league] game since November, so that’s some great form.

“Hopefully we can maintain that and keep going, keep keeping clean sheets and hopefully start being more clinical and decisive in the final third at the other end of the pitch.”