David Dunn said he had "no excuses" for a 1-0 derby defeat at Cumbrian rivals Carlisle United which left his Barrow side still looking for their first victory since returning to the EFL.

Speaking to BBC Radio Cumbria, Barrow manager Dunn admitted his side did not strike the right balance between keeping the ball and trying to unlock Carlisle with riskier passes, particularly once the hosts were reduced to 10 men following Aaron Hayden's red card.

He also felt they were guilty of labouring in possession at times, while at other stages they were too trigger-happy with forward passes when patience was needed.

"I stand here and I can't make any excuses," he said. "I thought it was a poor game overall but when they're poor games then you like your team to be the ones that are nicking that goal to win the derby.

"Unfortunately for us I thought we lacked a little bit of creativity and a little bit of guile in that last little bit.

"When teams go down to 10 men you can't take four or five touches, you've got to move the ball really quickly, you've got to move it two-touch, and at some point when you keep moving it side to side one of them will switch off and that's when you can play forward. I thought we tried to force it a little bit, giving it away a little bit too much.

"There was still 20 minutes on the clock at one point when we were trying to force the game. You've just got to keep the ball, keep it moving and eventually a chance will come and, you know what, we probably should take one of them chances as well."

The Bluebirds' boss also believed his side might have had a strong shout for a penalty in the game but said he needed to see the incident again to be sure.