Mark Cooper has urged his players to perform with freedom this weekend as they make the trip to face Ipswich Town in the Second Round of the FA Cup at Portman Road.
The Bluebirds have found the net just once since sweeping Banbury United aside 4-0 in the last round of the competition last month, but Cooper says some of the pressure will be lifted on Saturday.
Last weekend’s defeat at Sutton United was a particularly difficult pill to swallow for the Barrow boss and his team after dominating possession and creating numerous good scoring opportunities.
However, he hasn’t allowed any negativity to creep into their preparations ahead of the clash with The Tractor Boys this weekend and he has revealed there is a real optimism in the camp.
“This is a good game for us,” Cooper told iFollow.
“Nobody really expects us to get anything at Portman Road against a good Ipswich team so we can go and express ourselves and the pressure will be on them, they know that.
“We’ll be in for a tough afternoon but if we go and play like we did last Saturday and we put the ball in the net then we can cause them problems.
“Unlike in the last round, there is no pressure on us so if we can be free, we can be dangerous because we can just go and play our stuff.
“I know Ipswich will have done their homework because I saw Paul Cook at Sutton last Saturday and I have been to watch them too so both teams are respectful, as you have to be.
“We have to play really well on the day, we have to get a bit of luck and they have to not be quite at it and that’s why you get the odd upset in the FA Cup because those things can all happen.”
Click here now to watch our pre-match video interview with Mark Cooper in full on iFollow.