BARROW AFC boss Pete Wild has provided the details behind the departures of Bluebirds strikers Ged Garner and Courtney Duffus. 

Wild's side have welcomed one new striker into their ranks in the January transfer window, with this coming in the form of Burton Albion's Cole Stockton who will spend the rest of the season on loan at Holker Street.

However, this incoming was facilitated by the loan departures of Ged Garner and Courtney Duffus to Morecambe and Hartlepool respectively. 

25-year-old Garner was signed by Wild's Bluebirds on Deadline Day in January 2023 from Fleetwood Town but subsequently struggled to make his mark in a Barrow shirt, scoring four goals in 34 appearances.

After sanctioning the striker's loan move to the Shrimps, Wild detailed his frustrations with not being able to get Ged's qualities to shine. 

He said: "I think one of the most frustrating ones is Ged because I know the quality Ged has got and I have known Ged since he was a young player and really tracked his progress and we were over the moon to bring him in last January.

"Ultimately Ged is at his best when he gets a run of games. Injuries and probably the other players doing so well this season have seen him see his time limited, so he had asked if he could go out on loan to try and get some of that consistency.

"It was a real tough one for me because I didn't really want to lose him but I had a think about it and thought that we could switch some things around and it could help both parties and it moved pretty quickly from there."

Courtney Duffus arrived at Holker Street from Morecambe in the summer transfer window and looked to rejuvenate his injury-stricken career, however, found his chances in the Barrow side limited and Wild explained how his loan move was the morally right thing to do.

He said: "You have to come to a point as a manager when you have to take the moral responsibility and I thought morally, we weren't giving him a chance.

"He has a career to think about and a career to look after and he needed to go get some games so we thought it would be better to try to get him out there and get some games.

"It was very much around, he isn't getting the opportunities here, how can we get him playing."