Like the rest of his counterparts, Ian Evatt is having to manage his way through an unprecedented situation at Barrow AFC.

Never before in peacetime has a football season in England been suspended and although the Bluebirds’ campaign hasn’t been officially halted, that is surely inevitable due to the worsening coronavirus pandemic.

For now, the National League has decided not to follow the leads of the Premier League and EFL in not holding any of their fixtures until April 3 at the earliest, but the schedule last weekend felt the full effects of COVID-19.

Six matches in English football’s fifth tier were postponed due to the widespread impact of the virus last weekend, including AFC’s match against Wrexham at Holker Street, after one of the Dragons’ players began self-isolating.

It has left everyone unsure as to when Barrow will actually play again, with Evatt saying: “We were saying on Saturday morning, myself and some of the staff, that we’re just setting off from Barrow and we had no idea when we would be back.

“It’s crazy, really, and unprecedented. We don’t know what’s going to happen.

“All we can do is wait for further advice.”

It was widely expected that the National League season would be suspended last Friday, following on from higher divisions doing so, and what has happened since has demonstrated why players and managers reacted with bemusement when they found out they would be ploughing on regardless.

Evatt said: “When everyone postponed the games it was kind of expected and then the National League decided to play on, which wasn’t expected, and then obviously certain teams have come out - Harrogate and Wrexham for instance - saying they had players self-isolation with symptoms.

“For me, it should have been all-or-nothing, we needed to be all in the same boat. We’ll have to see what happens moving forward.”

The disruption almost certainly means the 2019/20 season will have to be suspended, while there is speculation the remainder of it could be cancelled should the situation around the country not improve.

It means for the foreseeable future, the Bluebirds are going to be left in limbo with them four points clear at the top of the table with nine games left.

“It’s the uncertainty of it all which is hard to take,” Evatt said. “We’re in a fantastic position, there’s no doubt about it, but there’s just too many things to discuss and think about. The ifs, buts and maybes of is all is crazy.

“Can I envisage the Premier League and the Football League beginning again on April 3 with what the scientists are saying? Definitely not.

“I can’t see how in three weeks there’s going to be more football going ahead.

“I can see further delays or, even worse than that, a decision will have to be made on what happens with the season, whether it’s voided, whether it’s taken as it is right now or whether there’s some other mathematics they can put in to it to see what the results will be. I don’t know the answers.”