David Dunn has encouraged his players to express themselves on Saturday as they begin 2020/21 with a televised Carabao Cup tie at Championship Derby County.
The Bluebirds boss is thrilled that the season opener is such a high-profile fixture and he was urged the squad to ensure they do themselves justice at Pride Park.
After overseeing a solid pre-season campaign, Dunn is confident that all is in place for another successful season at Barrow and he can’t wait for the first ball to be kicked this weekend.
“We’re really excited – what a great opportunity this is for everyone at the Club,” Dunn told iFollow Bluebirds.
“I think it’s really important we go there and try to give a really good account of ourselves and I am sure all of the players are eager to get out there and show everyone what they can do.
“The last four or five weeks have been really good; the lads have shown a really good attitude and the application has been tremendous.
“Now we are looking forward to the first competitive game – I am not saying it’s an easy one by any stretch of the imagination but it’s a great chance to play in a wonderful stadium against some really good players.
“We’ve watched Derby and they’re a fantastic team but we’re certainly not going to be going there to sit off and let them walk all over us.
“I want a team that is competitive against whoever they play so that will be our mindset – we will respect them but we don’t want to give them too much respect where we make it a breeze for them.”