For the third season running, Barrow AFC will not be in the first round proper of the FA Cup, but manager Ian Evatt is looking for a reaction from his players after their unfortunate defeat against Solihull Moors.

Evatt had no complaints about how his players performed last Saturday - if anything, they played better than in some of their seven straight wins in the National League that have taken them up to fourth in the table.

Nonetheless, for the first time in six weeks, the 37-year-old has to pick his players up from a loss for the first time in six weeks, although he feels this shouldn’t be too onerous a task.

The Bluebirds don’t have much time to dwell on being knocked out of the Cup, though, as they’ll be back in league action on Saturday at Torquay United before going on another long trip to Dagenham & Redbridge the following Tuesday.

Evatt said: “Anyone that was here and watched that game will know that we played really well and deserved to win that game - we’ve played worse and won this season. We had so many chances, but the ball wouldn’t drop for us in the box.

“But that’s football and you’re not going to have your own way all the time and now it’s about how we respond.

“We desperately wanted to win on Saturday because it’s the FA Cup. We haven’t done, but we dust ourselves down and we’ll go again.”