Mark Cooper insists Barrow’s out-of-sorts opponents Crawley are still capable of being one of the best sides in League Two.

The Bluebirds are hoping to get back to winning ways in the league today against visitors who have lost eight of their last nine games in all competitions.

John Yems’ Red Devils have been in freefall in the fourth tier – but Cooper says Barrow cannot afford to take them lightly.

“On their day they’re one of the best teams in the league,” Cooper said. “They’ve got threats all over the pitch, but they’ve been a little bit inconsistent this year.

“Last year when I was at Forest Green, they were the best team that we played, on their day.

“You have to be right at it, otherwise they’ve got a terrible habit of turning up and really hurting you.

“They are good people, John Yems and Lee Bradbury; they do a remarkable job. It will be a tough game for us.

“But they’re in poor form for a reason and we have to try and capitalise on that.”

Cooper is hoping Barrow can add a renewed goalscoring threat to their recent defensive solidity.

They have kept three straight clean sheets in all competitions but were unable to finish off Carlisle in last weekend’s goalless draw.

Cooper insists that a repeat of performances such as last Saturday’s will help Barrow in the long run.

“If you’d said to me that we’re gonna turn up, keep a clean sheet and create three chances every game like that, I’d snap your hand off,” he said.

“That would mean we would win most weeks, more or less.

“If by some fluke you don’t score one of those chances, you have to defend well and we did that.

“We’ve had to go back to basics in terms of our defending, but now, when we get a chance to train properly, we can evolve that and be a little bit more forward thinking.

“The way we were playing, every time we turned the ball over, opponents were going straight through out our goal and scoring.

“We’ve addressed that and we’ve got to tweak it a little bit to make us a little bit more of a threat.”

Striker Josh Gordon misses out through suspension today while Cooper is weighing up other selection issues, as Barrow aim for a first league win in seven outings.