Workington’s Billy Barr has been named Manager of the Month for February in the Northern Premier League’s Premier Division.
Despite sitting bottom of the Premier Division table, an extremely positive month has seen the Reds catapulted firmly back into the fight for survival.
But Barr was quick to spread the praise around after being announced as the latest winner.
He told Cumbria Crack: “It’s an award for everybody connected with our club – the staff, the players, the board and the fans.
“What we have to do now is follow it up with more good results in March and April.”
February has seen three successive home wins against Ilkeston Town, Morpeth Town and Rushall Olympic, and only a remarkable comeback from Gainsborough Trinity at home, to recover from three goals down to rescue a point, denied Workington a perfect four wins from four.
They find themselves three points from safety heading into their final nine games of the season, with fixtures still to come against four of the division’s current bottom eight.
February has given the Reds a fighting chance of avoiding the drop – something which many felt was too great a mountain to overcome just a few short weeks ago.
Joining Barr in the shortlist for February’s award were FC United of Manchester’s Mark Beesley, Stockton Town boss Michael Dunwell and Warrington Rylands’ Neil Reynolds.
Barr has been preparing this week for tomorrow’s trip to Guiseley, a team who sit mid-table (12th) with 39 points – ten more than Reds – from the same number of games.
The Reds boss said: “Guiseley are a very good footballing side, also very dangerous from set pieces so it will be a very difficult game for us for sure.
“Training this week has been good and we have nearly everyone available but waiting of a couple of fitness tests in the morning before the team is announced.
“We’ve no new faces but I’ve had phone calls with clubs during the week to see what is available before our window shuts on the last Thursday of the month.”
