For the second time this month, Barrow AFC have a two-week break from action and manager Ian Evatt is pleased they’ve gone into this one off the back of a good performance.

The Bluebirds looked the better side in the second half of the 0-0 draw at Chesterfield, a side battling for their lives against relegation, last Saturday, creating the majority of the openings.

Heading into this gap in the fixture on a positive note is in contrast to their previous one, which followed a mediocre display and a 2-0 defeat at Havant & Waterlooville.

However, having played in the manner they did after the break at the Proact Stadium, AFC’s players and staff would have preferred next week’s home game against Bromley to come around sooner.

Evatt said: “There is some frustration because I think we’re playing well. I don’t think in the previous Saturday [against Halifax] that we started the game very well for the first 60 minutes, but in the last 20 minutes I thought we looked more like us.

“Then last week, certainly, that was a very good performance. We were away from home, at the end of the day, at a big football club.

“It’s a massive shock, where they are in the league, with the money they’ve spent, so to go there and dominate the game, dominate possession like we did is an outstanding effort.

“We’ve got to be proud of that, we’ve got to dust ourselves down now and we’ve got a big finish to the season.”

The match at Chesterfield was Evatt’s first return to a club he served with such distinction, in two spells, over seven seasons as a player.

Not surprisingly, he was given a warm welcome by the Spireites’ faithful before the game and, with the fixture now out the way, he is hoping John Sheridan’s side can climb out of danger and avoid a third successive relegation.

Evatt said: “I’ve got a lot of admiration for that football club, a lot of feeling and a lot of emotion – obviously, I still live there.

“It kind of makes me proud of what I achieved there a player, what they think of me as a person because there aren’t too many away managers who will get receptions like that.

“I genuinely wish them all the best now. I hope they go on to steer clear of relegation.

“But my job is at Barrow and I’m really excited about where we’re doing here. I’m really excited about the progression that the club is making.

“The new owners are fantastic, they’re backing me 100 per cent and hopefully now we can drive this club forward into the Football League because I genuinely think we’ve got a real chance.”