Barrow AFC head coach Stephen Clemence has revealed the club are looking to the free agent market to bolster their squad.
The Bluebirds have started the season well and currently sit third in League Two. However, they are level on points with leaders Walsall and the extremely tight nature of the division means just a solitary point separates first and sixth.
Clemence’s side briefly topped the league last month following a 2-0 win over Newport County, but two successive defeats saw them drop to fourth. They returned to winning ways last weekend with a victory over Cheltenham Town and will be looking for another three points on Saturday when they host basement club Morecambe at Holker Street.
Having missed out on a place in the play-offs on the final day, Barrow are keen to make amends this time around. They looked good value for a top seven finish throughout the campaign but lost five of their seven matches to be pipped by eventual promotion winners Crawley Town.
Although Clemence didn’t join the club until the summer, he knows the ambitions of those around him. As such, the former Gillingham boss has revealed that he is looking at a number of free agents that he could potentially add to his squad:
“The players we are looking at right now are obviously not contracted, they are free agents,” he told The Mail.
“Now generally, they haven’t been training at other clubs, so they are a little bit behind fitness wise, to where the rest of the division is.
“So we haven’t got them here just for a couple of days. They are going to be here for it could be a week, it could be a month.
“We just have to assess it week by week and see where we are at in terms of a decision.”
Writer’s View
Barrow won’t be the only team looking at free agents and there are still a number of good players without a club at the moment. That said, Clemence has revealed that there are players training with the club which indicates that they have options when it comes to new signings.
League Two is an exceptionally tight division and one that is notorious for changing quickly. Barrow looked nailed on for at least a play-off place last season, whilst they were in the conversation for an automatic promotion spot for much of the campaign. On the flip side, Doncaster were in a relegation battle as late as February and eventually finished fifth. It makes sense to try and add numbers before the January transfer window, especially when a couple of defeats could see them drop to mid-table. It’ll be interesting to see who they are looking at and with the head coach stating that some of these players could be in training for up to a month, names could be revealed in the coming weeks.
Head of Writing
