Riccardo Calder felt Tamworth competed well against a physical Barrow side and was pleased with the work rate off the ball, saying that the performance levels would eventually help to turn the tide back to winning ways.

Tamworth fell to a narrow defeat at home to Barrow on Saturday, with the Bluebirds taking all three points back to Cumbria. The visitors’ captain Rekeem Harper took the lead from the penalty spot just after the interval, and Corey Edwards doubled the lead on the 61st minute.

Despite Teo Kurtaran’s finish from 12 yards with three minutes of normal time remaining, it wasn’t enough to get anything from the game.

Calder said: “I thought the first half we started the game well, we battled with them.

“They’re a big side and we matched them off the ball, especially. We were in it with chances that would hopefully win the game. We went in at half time positive, and came out again, started the second half well. We gave the penalty away, and from there it was an uphill battle. It’s not to be too hard on ourselves, but we’ve battled with them, they’re a big side, we’ve just got to go again.

He continued: “When the subs came on and we changed the formation a bit, Teo [Kurtaran] put the ball in the back of the net and we were front foot, so another day, a bit more luck and we win the game. The stuff that we did off the ball, if we battle like that, we can compete with any team. They’re a good team, and I feel like we battled them well and matched them. If we take that into our next game we’ll be fine.”