After facing one of the National League’s top sides in Leyton Orient in midweek, Barrow AFC will be up against a team at the other end of the table in Aldershot Town tomorrow and manager Ian Evatt is expecting a different type of game.

The Bluebirds’ 3-2 defeat against the O’s on Tuesday night was arguably the most open game Holker Street has seen this season – it certainly could have seen much more than the five goals that were scored.

The fact that AFC gave as good as they got throughout means that they go into the clash with the struggling Shots in good heart, albeit with more of an onus on them to win and put the two losses from the last week behind them.

That’s even more the case, given that they will be in front of their home fans again and their opponents are fighting for their lives against relegation.

Aldershot’s fifth-tier status is in severe jeopardy, as they are third-from-bottom and have 11 games left to make up a seven-point gap that separates them, Dover Athletic and safety.

Evatt, who continues to be linked with the managerial vacancy at Rochdale, said: “It’s a different test because, obviously, Leyton Orient came to win.

“We go to win every game and, at times, it was refreshing to see, especially probably for the first 60 minutes, it was quite an open game, end-to-end and any team could have scored at any give opportunity, even though I thought we created the better chances.

“In the last half an hour, they literally camped in [their box] and we managed to score two and didn’t quite get the equaliser, but I’m so proud of the way they fought back.

“Aldershot will offer a different test, in the terms that they’re fighting for their lives.

“They’ll be coming here looking for a result, but we have to play and if we can play anything like Tuesday and be clinical in front of goal, I fancy us to beat any team.”

Barrow can be justifiably pleased with their performance against Orient, as it showed they can hang with the National League’s big hitters.

However, they may also be reflecting on it being another result that got away from them, given the amount of opportunities they created even before they threatened to come back from 3-0 down.

Evatt said: “That’s why I get frustrated because I see how good my boys are.

“We have to remember that we are still a young team. We’re still learning, but we’re getting some fantastic praise.

“We just need to turn these chances into goals and once we do, someone will be on the wrong end of a big result.”

Evatt has also praised the impact Rhys Turner has made off the bench in the matches against Barnet and Orient, in what represents his latest comeback from injury in a season ravaged by them.

His first goal for the Bluebirds, against the O’s, is one that really raised hopes of Evatt’s side completing one of the comebacks of the season.

“He’s a top player and we’ve been so unlucky that we’ve not had him this season with injuries,” Evatt said. “We’ve just got to be very careful and manage him correctly, so we break him down and lose him again.

“We’re building up his minutes slowly and hopefully soon he’ll be ready to start because he is a fantastic player.”