Barrow AFC still aren’t getting the credit they deserve, despite their superb run of results in the National League, according to manager Ian Evatt.

Going into Saturday’s match at Notts County, the Bluebirds are the form team in English football’s fifth tier, having won nine of their last ten fixtures, a run that has seen them emerge as promotion contenders.

They will head to Meadow Lane fourth in the table and only two points behind leaders Bromley, who they have a game in hand on.

Evatt has often previously stated that he is happy for his team to go under the radar and he believes Barrow’s place in the country as something of an outpost has led to that still being the case.

He said: “I still think we are going under the radar and that doesn’t bother me at all.

“I think people in the game - by that I mean other managers and other football clubs, people that know the level - know the quality of our team and expect us to be where we are.

“They’re very complimentary about how we play, how good we are, but I think the media, certainly press outlets, commentators and pundits, especially in our division, because it’s Barrow they don’t give us the credit we deserve.

“I’m not bothered about that. They can say what they want about me, about us as a team and as a club, and as a town, but I know we’re very good.

“We have to go out there and prove it and the longer we can fly under the radar the better.”

Like his players, Evatt’s sole focus is on making sure the Bluebirds pick up where they left off on what is their first fixture at Notts County since August 1970.

The Magpies themselves are just three points behind AFC and with so many games left, Evatt isn’t paying too much attention to the league standings just yet.

He said: “We’re just taking each game as it comes. It’s an old cliché, but it’s so true.

“Notts County is going to be a tough game, no doubt about it, they’re a big club, but I’m very much looking forward to it.

“It’s a big stadium, with a big pitch, which should make it a proper football game. My players are excited too and I think we’ll go there and try and win, as we always do and see what happens.”

n Barrow AFC’s Lancashire Senior Cup match against Preston North End, which was due to take place this afternoon, has been postponed and the Bluebirds have withdrawn from the competition.

AFC’s ongoing injury problems and the unavailability of their youth team players meant they would have been unable to raise a team for the game at Preston’s training ground.