Following today's first round tie against Atherton Collieries in the FA Trophy, Barrow AFC have a lead to defend at the top of the National League during what is a tough Christmas period and manager Ian Evatt is looking forward to the challenge.

Evatt will be making a few changes at Atherton this afternoon, not just to give some key players a breather, but also to give those who haven't been in the side lately a chance to impress.

They'll then look to continue their phenomenal run of the results in the league when they travel to fellow promotion chasers Solihull Moors next week, with them three points clear of second-placed Bromley with a game in hand.

Evatt said: "We've got a really big month coming up now, with not just the Atherton game, but seven league fixtures coming up in a short space of time.

"They're important fixtures against teams who are in and around us, teams that are probably underachieving and have had new managers and are starting to pick up. It's going to be a good test for us, but one we're really looking forward to."

The Bluebirds will take a repeat of last season's Christmas haul, which was eight points from the 12 available, taking in memorable wins against Solihull and Salford in the process.

Evatt isn't looking back at that for inspiration, however, saying: "I'm more concentrated on what we're producing this season, where we're at as a group, how we're producing good performances week in, week out and how we're getting the right results week in, week out.

"I've said many times that I'm not disrespecting the opposition, I just believe in my team so much that if we produce the standard that we can produce, then it gives us an excellent chance of winning football matches.

"If we can get to our levels of performance that we have got to in recent times then we should win games and if we can do that then I'm sure we're going to pick up points over the Christmas period."