This time next week, Barrow Raiders’ preparations for the 2020 season will have begun in earnest, with their players arriving at Craven Park for their first day back at pre-season training.

The Raiders will be aiming to bounce back into the Betfred Championship at the first time of asking next year and they’ll be able to approach pre-season in a better state than last year, when several members of their squad were left playing catch-up due to injury.

This time around, there are only question marks around the fitness of Dan Toal, while Nathan Mossop may have to limit the amount of contact work he can put in, as he recovers from shoulder surgery.

The senior squad will be joined by a selection of some of the most promising players from the club’s under-19 team, the Furness Raiders, who will have the chance to show head coach Paul Crarey how far they have progressed.

It is an approach that has brought reward before, with winger Adam Ford beginning last season by impressing in Barrow’s pre-season friendlies and ended it by showing his considerable promise in the remaining few games of their relegation campaign, having signed an 18-month contract during the summer.

Crarey said: “I’ve asked Evan Jones to come down, Charlie Emslie will again be coming in and we’ve signed Connor Terrill and that’s the ticket for them.

“We just bring them down when we feel they can fit into a professional environment, with big physical players.

“Some of them are great players at the moment - my own son Jack is killing it and he’s captaining the Furness Raiders, but he needs to properly develop physically to make that step up.

“Some are physically men at 18 [years old] and there are the likes of my other son, Joe, who come in at 21. I don’t think Danny Toal signed until hie was 22, so if you’re not getting invited down early, there is a possibility you can stay in the system and be watched and come down later on.

“The whole concept of the link between the amateur game and this new dual registration system with the amateur clubs gives us even more contact to watch them develop.”

Just over two weeks remain until the fixtures for the 2020 League One season are released on November 17, with the Cumbria derbies against Workington Town sure to be the two games supporters will be keeping an eye on.

The campaign will see several players from amateur clubs appear for the Raiders on dual registration, with the process of getting potential players on board still ongoing.

Crarey said: “There’s a few more who are going to come in and we still need to speak to some of the coaches at the amateur clubs.

“But it’s a very positive move from the Rugby Football League and it can help us sustain the amateur game and support them a little bit more.”