PAUL Cox celebrates one year in charge of Barrow AFC as they head to Dagenham and Redbridge tomorrow.

It was 12 months ago that Cox arrived in the Barrow dugout to replace the axed Darren Edmondson, with the Bluebirds sitting 16th in the National League.

Defeat in his first game against Woking would have seen Barrow drop into the relegation zone. Instead, goals from Steve Williams and Andy Cook – two of 52 players to have featured for AFC during Cox's reign (see below) – saw them win 2-1 .

It was the start of a 12-month period where 50 games in league and cup have yielded 23 wins, 20 draws and just seven defeats, with the Bluebirds now up among the play-off places rather than fighting relegation.

Asked to reflect on his first 12 months in charge, Cox spoke expansively, looking at progress that has already been made and areas where improvement still needs to happen.

He praised people from the players to the supporters, club employees to the management team when speaking of his delight and surprise at how far things have come at Holker Street.

Talking at length, without interruption, this is what Cox said: “I never thought that we would be where we are now. A lot of credit has to be given to a lot of people working hard behind the scenes – a lot of people who go unnoticed getting a lot of the little things done.

“The pitch has been immaculate, there are people working behind the scenes to make sure that the club is running efficiently. I think the club is growing off the field, which I see as a massive pat on the back for all the hard work going on behind the scenes.

“On the field, with the money being spent in this league, with the resources and the hunger among a number of clubs who want to get out of this league, for us to be where we are now is just an amazing feat.

“Even with Paul Casson at the football club, there was still an amazing amount of work to be done to make sure we are consistently where we are now. The level of consistency we have shown as a group of players within a year has been immense.

“Someone told me it was between five and eight games we have lost in a year, and that for me is unbelievable.

“I keep talking about the players, and they need all the adulation for the year they have put in – both the players who are still here and the players who have left the club.

“This group of players this season have really, not surprised me, but they have really put a smile on my face with their ability to grab concepts, to work at little things that we weren’t good at, to be consistent. Their work ethic is tremendous, their camaraderie is unbelievable, and all this has come within a year.

“I thought at Mansfield it came pretty quickly when it came within two years, but we’re doing all this now. Realistically, to an outsider who is not in our camp, I think there are a lot of people who have raised eyebrows and who are surprised with where we are.

“I think there are a lot people waiting for the bubble to burst, and that’s a motivational factor for me. We need, as a football club, to keep growing. We need people to keep working hard behind the scenes, as they have done, we need the supporters to keep coming through the gate and filling the stadium, because I don’t this to be a fly-by-night success and all of a sudden go back to the dark days of avoiding relegation and bouncing between the Conference North and the Conference.

“When I first came here, it was all about building the brand. We’re building a brand and it’s not going to happen overnight.

“The year seems to have flown by. We’ve put us on the map, we’re in some big games, people know that there is a realistic ambition about the club now. I don’t want to let that go now.

“It’s been hard. Anybody who rests on their laurels will get left behind. We can’t afford for this football club now to slip and become mediocre. That’s a lot of pressure on myself – but I love to put pressure on myself.

“We’ll get to Christmas, I will sit down with the chairman and see where we are as a football club, see what – realistically – we can achieve this season. More importantly, it’s about the short, medium and long-term future of this club. For that, I need to sit down with Mr Casson and we need to really plan strategically in terms of our consistency, our growth.

“If we do that and I get the right kind of answers, then there is nowhere that this football club can’t get to and nothing it can’t achieve.

“There’s a massive pat on the back for the last year – a lot of people have worked extremely hard behind the scenes, the players deserve an immense amount of credit, my staff have worked tirelessly, and all that hard work is coming out in a positive manner at the minute.

“It might sound a bit harsh now, but we can’t rest on our laurels. I want more from this football club – I want it to go places, I don’t it to be a flash in the pan, I want it to progress.

“The ruthlessness of this game is that you get left behind if you take your foot off the pedal in any way. It’s an important stage going forward, and more so planning for the medium and long-term to make sure that we are consistently trying to achieve our goals on a month-to-month and year-to-year basis and we’re not standing still as a club.”

PLAYER POWER

THE full list of players used by Paul Cox during his time as Barrow AFC manager is as follows (in order of first appearance).

2015/16: Joel Dixon, Dave Symington, Nick Anderton, Simon Grand, Steve Williams, Paddy Lacey, David Mellor, Andy Haworth, Andy Cook, Liam Hearn (loan), Otis Khan (loan), Alex-Ray Harvey, Dan Pilkington, Steven Rigg (loan), Mo Fofana, Jason Walker, Benjamin Van den Broek, Ryan O'Reilly (loan), Neil Ashton, Alex Newby, Elliot Newby, Niall Cowperthwaite, Jordan Williams, Andy Parry, Danny Livesey, Ashley Grimes, Dan Rowe (loan), Michael Donohue (loan), Ben Tomlinson (loan), Ritchie Sutton (loan), Brad Abbott (loan).

Players named on the bench but never used: Aaron Taylor, Brad Carroll.

2016/17 (to date): Joel Dixon, Shaun Beeley, Nick Anderton, Moussa Diarra, Danny Livesey, Alex-Ray Harvey, Paul Turnbull, Liam Hughes, Ross Hannah, Byron Harrison, Jordan Williams, Andy Parry, Richie Bennett, Lindon Meikle, Andy Haworth, Euan Murray, Dom Smith (loan), Ryan Yates, Andy Coughlin, Harry Mellen, Josh Woodend, Akil Wright, Tom Unwin, Callum Fawcett, Jamie Hodgson, Jack Elliot, Ben Stoker, Myles Anderson.

Squad Players not yet used: Harry Panayiotou, Callum Caldwell, Charlie Foster, Dan Cockerline.

Cox used 31 players in the 2015/16 season and has so far fielded 28 in this campaign – including eight who have only played in the Lancashire Senior Cup tie against Bury thus far.

Before being injured on Tuesday , goalkeeper Joel Dixon was the only man to have played in every National League, FA Cup and FA Trophy tie under Cox at Barrow. Nick Andeton has missed just three – all last season through suspension.

In total, 52 different players have worn the AFC colours during his year in charge.