New signing Mike Jones believes his experience of playing in the English Football League will come in handy for Barrow during what will be their first season at that level in 48 years.

The 32-year-old midfielder joined the Bluebirds on Monday after leaving Carlisle United and arrives at Holker Street with over 450 EFL appearances under his belt.

In AFC’s squad, only Jason Taylor and Sam Hird can come close to those numbers, meaning Jones should be able to add plenty of know-how when it comes to helping teammates who don’t have much experience of playing in League Two.

He’ll also have a fair idea of how new Barrow manager David Dunn will want his team to play, after playing under him during the 40-year-old’s three months in charge at Oldham Athletic during the 2015/16 season.

Jones told the club’s YouTube channel: “I’ve been around these leagues for many years now and I kind of know around Leagues One and Two what it takes to be up there at the right end of the table.

“I just can’t wait to get started. Obviously, signing for the gaffer, I’ve been with him at Oldham and I loved playing for him there, so as soon as I picked up the phone there was only one place I was going this summer.

“Like I said, I’m looking forward to starting up and be a part of what is already an exciting journey.”

Following the departure of former manager Ian Evatt, two weeks after promotion from the National League was confirmed, the Bluebirds are something of an unknown quantity for the season ahead, but Jones sees no reason why sights can’t be set high.

He said: “We’ve got to set them high and, like I said, I've been around these leagues and I know what it takes.

“Although you don’t need to be Barcelona to be at the top of League Two, at the same time it’s not easy.

“You can play your stuff and play your football at times, but then when you go through the winter months and you’ve got those cold Tuesday night away games where the pitch is not great, you need that ‘Plan B’ sometimes and you need that character in the dressing room to dig in and get results during the winter.

“I think the gaffer will know how to go about it and I certainly bring that experience in knowing what it takes.”