Midfielder Lewis Hardcastle is well aware of how every team in the National League poses a threat with Barrow AFC set to cross paths with another side in the bottom half of the table in Maidenhead United tomorrow.

The trip to York Road finishes off a busy week for the table-topping Bluebirds, who haven't had it all their own way against teams fighting to get into the top half, or out of the relegation zone.

Their match against Barnet last Saturday largely went to form, but they were left hanging on slightly at the end of their 2-1 win, before they were surprisingly held to a 2-2 draw by Chorley, who began the evening bottom of the table, on Tuesday.

All this means they won't be taking the Magpies lightly at York Road, especially after their hosts got back to winning ways by defeating Dover 4-3 in midweek.

Hardcastle said: "It's a tough place to go, like everywhere in this league. No away game is easy in this league and we've just got to stick together and work hard to get the three points on Saturday.

"Every team poses a threat in this league, it's not just us who's got them. We've been working hard since Tuesday to prepare for Saturday right.

"We know going into every game that it's hard to get results in this league, but we're on a good run at the minute and we believe we can beat anyone."

The Bluebirds have made a habit of getting on the front foot early in games this season, which added to the surprise element when Chorley went into a 2-0 lead after just 16 minutes as Holker Street.

Although they quickly managed to rectify that situation, they are determined to not make life as hard for themselves when they head down to Berkshire.

Hardcastle said: "We knew straight away that they were going to come out fast, but we had to deal better with their strengths.

"We knew their front three were lively and we showed good character to come back and get the point. I thought we should have come into half-time ahead, but that's football."

Two weeks after the clash at Maidenhead comes AFC's FA Trophy first round tie at Atherton Collieries and while it's a step into the unknown for most of their squad, their Alder House ground is familiar to Hardcastle.

That is because it is where his older brother Ben plays and the draw has given the Hardcastle family reason to get very excited.

"It will be a hard game in tough conditions, but that is what football is about," Hardcastle said. "They won on Saturday [against Boston United] then we we were talking about it on Sunday, saying we were hoping we'd get each other.

"I go and watch him play every so often and he's a good player. Their place is your classic non-League ground so it's going to be battle, but it should be a good game."