Rob Kelly’s message was clear as Barrow AFC stand on the brink of safety this weekend: 'Let’s finish the job'.

The Bluebirds could finally secure their EFL status tomorrow after a long battle to avoid an immediate return to non-league.

Victory at Tranmere would effectively seal survival, while results involving bottom two sides Southend and Grimsby could also ensure Barrow’s position in League Two for another season.

Although back-to-back defeats have checked Barrow’s bid to get the job done in recent days, caretaker boss Kelly said it was very much still in their own hands.

AFC stand eight points clear of the bottom two with four games remaining.

Kelly said: “You deal with what’s in front of you because that’s all you can do.

“We’re ready to go and what you don’t want to be doing is looking over the fence relying on others.

“Our destiny’s in our hands. Two months ago if you’d offered us this position we’d have snapped your hand off.

“It’s the players who have put us in a position where it is in our own hands. Let’s finish the job.”

A win at Prenton Park would put Barrow out of 23rd-placed Southend’s reach even if the Shrimpers win their last three matches.

Bottom side Grimsby could still catch them on points in those circumstance – but the Mariners have a vastly inferior goal difference.

As long as the bottom two do not gain better results than Kelly’s side on Saturday, it will also be effectively over. Southend are at home to Leyton Orient while Grimsby go to Oldham.

Kelly admitted recent defeats to Orient and Port Vale have been frustrating but said his players have continued to give their all.

He said they will stick to the same principles that have taken them this close to achieving their aim. “We’ll be going to Tranmere to do everything we can to get the result we need to put it to bed,” he said.

“The last two results have been a bit disappointing but the effort, endeavour and level of performance hasn’t.

“We might not have created as much as we’d want but you have to give the opposition credit too; Port Vale’s back three defended their box really well, and Orient made it difficult on the back of a hard week.

“We kept going and will keep going as a minimum requirement.

“We’re consistent in what we keep looking to do, only we try and be better at it, tweak it, improve in little areas.

“We’ve got a plan, that’s the most important thing. It’s not as though we’re sticking our finger up and seeing which way the wind blows.

“It’s an inconsistent league generally, particularly the bottom half, that’s the nature of it.

“We’ve got to have something that’s consistent in the way we try and go about our business.”