Barrow boss believes he got reaction from players despite home defeat to Salford City

Barrow AFC manager Mark Cooper. Picture: joshjdss

Barrow boss Mark Cooper believes he got a reaction on Tuesday night from his players despite a 2-0 home defeat by Salford City.

After the game, Cooper said: “I couldn’t fault the team for the way they played. We will play worse than that and come away with a result.

“I was looking for a reaction after how we lost on Saturday and I got that, it’s frustrating, though, that we still lost despite playing well as a team.

“We were always in the game. I asked them to be competitive and we certainly were, competing well. So we got that bit right.

“The criticism came from our play in the final third where we got in some great areas but made the wrong decisions.

“It’s not great at the minute but we have to stay focused, make the right pass, take the right shot, get the goals which can make the difference.

“It’s good, too, that we have players coming back like George Williams, Josh Gordon and Joe Grayson and the present team will see players on the sidelines who are wanting to have a go themselves,” he said.

Cooper praised the fans with a biggest of the season attendance of 3,510, saying: “They were great and we need to give them some wins.”

Barrow are currently 21^st in the League Two table, seven points above the relegation trapdoor with 20 games left to play.

On Saturday they travel to third in the table Newport County who are reported to be on the verge of adding a third January signing to their squad.

Coventry central defender Josh Pask has joined on loan and attacking midfielder James Waite has been a permanent signing on an 18-month deal from Penybont.

County rose to third in the table with a late 1-0 victory at Leyton Orient on Tuesday night, a third on the spin after beating Harrogate 4-0 and Scunthorpe 1-0.