Barrow AFC manager Ian Evatt gave credit to his strike partnership of Jack Hindle and Jamie Philpot after they produced an improved performance the Bluebirds’ 0-0 draw at Dagenham & Redbridge last Saturday.

Both forwards gave the Daggers plenty of problems at Victoria Road, forcing the home defence to be at their best with some clever running and by linking up well with their teammates.

In the previous week, they’d endured a frustrating afternoon against Boreham Wood, even though Hindle scored AFC’s goal in their 2-1 home defeat.

With fellow strikers Dior Angus and Jacob Blyth currently injured, Evatt’s options are front are limited and to Evatt and Hindle and Philpot showed that the hard work of the previous week had paid off.

Evatt said after the game: “To be honest, we gave them a kick up the backside on Monday after last Saturday’s performance – I don’t think either of them were great on that day.

“As it stands at the moment, with Nathan Reid who is a young lad that doesn’t train full-time, that’s all we’ve got, so they’ve got to step up to the plate and today I thought they did step up to the plate.

“They worked really hard – we’ve done a lot of work with like a rugby tackle bag, with their back to goal, so they could be strong and expect the contact from these big, physical defenders and hold the ball up.

“I thought they did that much better, which was pleasing, and we work a lot on combinations with the front two in midfield around the box and we showed signs of that today.

“I’m really pleased that they’ve taken the coaching on board and we’ve shown we’ve learned from our mistakes last Saturday.”

Philpot twice came close to opening his account with Barrow, first forcing a good save from Dagenham goalkeeper Elliot Justham with a header during the first half before sending a half-volley just wide in the dying stages.

A win in East London would have rewarded what was another assured away performance from the Bluebirds, who have shown better form on the road than they have on their own patch in recent months.

Evatt said: “Sometimes, mentally, it can be tough when you know can’t really go up or down, but I thought their application was excellent.

“The effort was there, but it was just that last moment and that tiny bit of quality and composure in front of goal that was missing, but we’ve hit the bar, we’ve created a lot of opportunities and I’m really pleased with how they played.”