Manager Ian Evatt felt Barrow AFC’s players needed a lift from the crowd as the second half of their 0-0 draw with FC Halifax Town last Saturday drew on.

Evatt accepts his side produced a flat performance during what was a forgettable encounter against the Shaymen at Holker Street, in which they didn’t muster a shot on target.

It was noticeable how frustrated supporters were getting in the closing stages, as the Bluebirds continued to huff and puff without creating enough clear-cut opportunities.

Given how comfortably Halifax’s centre-backs, Matty Brown and Nathan Clarke, were dealing with crosses into the box, Evatt wanted his team to probe away instead of just launching it.

He said: “The fans have been excellent all season and they’ve backed me, and they’ve backed the team, but I think today the lads needed a lift.

“We needed the crowd to really get behind us give us positive energy and I just got the feeling that there was a lot of negativity and they tended to get on the players’ backs very quickly.

“They’re trying to do the right things – they’re not misplacing passes on purpose. I heard people screaming about throwing the ball into the box and whatever else, but their centre-halves are built for that.

“They’re both six-foot-four, six-foot-five, and they want us to do that, so that’s why we try to be intricate and pick passes that will break them down.

“So that was disappointing for me, that for the first time this season we really wanted them to lift us and it just felt a bit negative.”

Barrow looked sluggish in what was their first match for a fortnight, with Halifax, who contrastingly were playing their third game in the space of a week, having the better of the first half.

Eventually, it was the third game in a row in which AFC haven’t scored.

Evatt said: “I thought, especially in the first half, we were a couple of yards off the pace and we weren’t really ourselves. For whatever reason, we just looked a bit flat.

“I thought we had a very good chance in the second half with Rhys (Norrington-Davies) and we improved as the game went on. I think in the last 15-20 minutes we got stronger and looked like we could create something, but it just wasn’t to be.”