BARROW AFC manager Pete Wild has said that he is 'massively grateful' for the continued support of the Bluebirds faithful.

The Barrow boss piled the praise on the Holker Street faithful ahead of their near-330 miles, 12-hour round-trip to Colchester to take on Matty Etherington's Us.

Despite having a midweek fixture in South Cumbria against Walsall, The travelling Barrow support face long trips down south over the next week which begins with the away at Colchester and concludes with the Bluebirds' FA Cup second-round clash with National League South side Maidstone United.

Ahead of this packed schedule, Wild thanked every single fan that will be making the journeys to back his side.

He said: "We are massively grateful, we have got a long week ahead of us and the fixtures aren't kind to us this week.

"I am massively grateful for anybody and everybody who makes the trip and we understand that and we will certainly go out and give it everything we have got because we understand how much the fans are sacrificing to get there."