BARROW were flying high and looking way down on City a fortnight ago.

The Bluebirds occupied the third automatic spot while tomorrow’s visitors languished in 18th – 16 points in arrears.

Fast forward three games and that difference has been slashed to seven places and seven points.

City’s recent League Two resurgence has coincided with the Cumbrian side collapsing to a hat-trick of losses against Wimbledon, strugglers Forest Green and Salford.

It is an alarming drop-off for Barrow, who have won just twice in 11 outings since Boxing Day.

They have conceded 22 goals in that time – five of them at Salford last weekend – compared with just three let in from the previous 10 games before that.

Former Halifax boss Pete Wild has been showered with plaudits for turning one of the division’s smallest club into a viable promotion contender.

“We can’t catastrophise the situation and point fingers"

And he insists the current slump in form will not derail what they are trying to achieve.

“We’re all trying ever so hard,” he told our sister paper, the North West Mail. “You can’t knock the lads’ effort.

“We can’t catastrophise the situation and point fingers. You don’t become a bad team overnight.

“When you have bad weeks, and it’s our first one of the season, you have to get through it.

“It’s a 46-game season and you can go through periods where you look solid, but you’ll also go through periods where you don’t look as solid.

“Unfortunately, that’s us at the moment. In terms of how we defend, nothing’s changed.

“But it’s about people taking responsibility in the big moments.”

City must guard against Cole Stockton, who has netted four in his last four games since arriving at Holker Street on loan from Burton in the January window.

But former Bantams loan striker Jamie Proctor remains unavailable following his recent red card for an off-the-ball incident against Wimbledon.

Proctor was given an automatic three-match ban – which has since been increased after he pleaded guilty to an FA charge of “acting in a manner which was improper towards a match official”.