GARETH Evans is ready to return to the fray as City look to spoil the Barrow adventure.

The Bantams make their first visit to Holker Street for 51 years tomorrow in a bid to snap a two-game losing run.

Stuart McCall will once again be missing top scorer Lee Novak – but Evans should be available to provide a timely boost to resources.

The versatile recent capture has been limited to just over an hour’s action since re-joining his former club from Portsmouth.

A hamstring injury against Harrogate has kept him out of the last four games. But he is poised to feature after impressing in training this week.

Assistant boss Kenny Black said: “You are desperate to get all your good players out there and Gareth certainly falls into that category.

“It would be nice to have him back playing and I know he’s been very frustrated, as you would be joining a new club and then being out injured.

“He’d be one you would certainly get right behind and include straight away.

“He can play a number of positions and he has done that throughout his career and been very effective. Fingers crossed he will be available.”

Barrow claimed their first win since promotion in midweek when they beat Mansfield and are now looking to break the duck at home.

Having already lost to Harrogate, City will be wary of another opponent still in the honeymoon period after stepping up from non-league.

Black added: “We’ve had Salford recently as well. We can’t afford to take them lightly but we won’t do that anyway.

“We’ve seen what Harrogate did to us and they were very comfortable.

“They are actually enjoying coming from the National League straight into the EFL. They are embracing it and enjoying their adventure.

“It’s dangerous that Barrow had their first victory on Tuesday. It makes them difficult opponents but we expect that.

“We’d certainly like that consistency and getting in the habit of winning games – we’re desperate to get on that type of run.

“Hopefully we can kickstart it but there’s no point in saying the same things. We need to do our talking on the pitch.”

Levi Sutton is also back in contention but Novak and Kurtis Guthrie remain sidelined.

Both had scans on Wednesday and City are hopeful that Novak’s calf problem will not keep him out for as long as they first feared.

With Novak out, the spotlight is on City to find the goals elsewhere after scoring only once in the three games since beating Mansfield. Black stressed it is an area they continue to work on.

“We preach the need to work the goalkeeper to the players every day in training, whether it’s a header or a shot from distance.

If you force him to make a save, at least you’ve got the option of a second phase or someone else tapping in the rebound. If you’re blasting over the bar or wide of the goal, there’s no comeback.

“That’s again down to concentration and making sure you hit the target. It’s something we’ve been saying for a very long time now and we’ve got to take it on board.”