Defender Brian Wilson insists Barrow AFC fans still haven’t seen the best of him after his man-of-the-match performance against Maidstone United last Saturday.

Wilson came back into the side for injured captain Josh Granite for the clash against the Stones after recovering from a calf problem that had ruled him out of the Bluebirds’ previous match, at Braintree.

He actually ended up with the armband after stand-in skipper Jason Taylor was forced off halfway through the first half, thanks to a stray Maidstone elbow that knocked out four of his teeth.

The 35-year-old, who’s had a stop-start first few months at Holker Street after signing from Oldham in the summer, thrived with the extra responsibility as he helped AFC keep a fourth consecutive clean sheet.

Wilson said: “Performance-wise, I’m nowhere near where I should be at and there’s a lot more to come from myself.

“It’s not helped me getting a load of niggles, but hopefully I can just put that behind me now.

“Obviously, we’re winning games, showing what we’re really about, but like I said, I’m not at where I want to be at, at the minute, regarding my performances. That will come, in time.”

Wilson’s Bluebirds career got off to a false start, as he had to come off early in the second game of the season, at Halifax Town - Saturday’s FA Trophy opponents - with a calf injury that ended up keeping him out of contention for two months.

A similar problem ended his game prematurely against Wrexham two weeks ago, but thankfully he was able to make a swift return on this occasion.

“I felt a little bit of tightness again and I felt like if I was to carry on then it may have torn or led to have something like that,” Wilson said.

“But the manager didn’t want to risk me and obviously having a bit of a rest and missing the Braintree game has helped me massively, as I felt fine in the game on Saturday.”

Barrow’s newfound defensive solidity has coincided with Ian Evatt starting to field three defenders, something the manager had been waiting to do, with key defenders available again after injury.

In truth, Wilson previously looked uncomfortable at centre-back as part of a back four, but he has looked far more at home on the right of the back three, which is something he is familiar with.

Wilson said: “All through my career I’ve been playing at right-back and I’ve played in a 3-5-2 formation a lot of the time.

“I like to get forward and it does suit me a lot more playing on the right of a three.”