BARROW AFC head north of the border tonight as they take on Scottish Premier League outfit Kilmarnock.

And Bluebirds midfielder Dean Campbell, who had a loan spell at Rugby Park in 2022 – making eight appearances, says they can expect a tough test.

Speaking to Barrow AFC’s official YouTube channel, he said: “It’s going to be a really difficult game. Kilmarnock had a great season in Scotland last year.

“They qualified for Europe, and I think we are their last game before they go into Europe (Killie play Belgian side Cercle Brugge in the Europa League next Thursday), so they will be looking for a positive performance going into that.

“It will be a physical game, they are front-footed, a quick team, and they’ve got players who can hurt us, and they are very solid defensively.

“I’m looking forward to a tough challenge against a good team to see where we are right now and test ourselves against good opposition.”

Campbell is looking forward to his Rugby Park return and going up against familiar faces in Killie boss Derek  McInnes and his assistant Paul Sheerin.

He added : “I was at Kilmarnock for a few months and had a promotion with them, and the manager and assistant were the ones who brought me through at Aberdeen, so I owe a lot of my career to them.

“They taught me a lot so I’m looking forward to getting up there and seeing a few familiar faces and hopefully getting a win against them too.”

The step up in class when it comes to opposition is something that Campbell is clearly relishing.

He said: “With as much respect to Holker (Old Boys) and FC (United of Manchester) we are expected to be quite dominant in those games, and they gave us a good challenge.

“All the best to them for the season, but it’s important we play against teams that are going to test us and probably put us under pressure.

“It means we can learn stuff before we get to the games in the season and iron things out before the main stuff happens.

“So, from now on it’s going to be tough games and we are going to be tested, and we will look to work on our fitness and get the match sharpness back and be ready for the first game.”

On a personal level, Campbell says he is enjoying life under new head coach Stephen Clemence and is looking to continue to develop his game.

He said: “I like to be a player who gets on the ball, and I like to be a player in the team that’s trusted on it.

“I feel like the big improvement I had in my game last season was learning the defensive side of the game.

“So I’m just looking forward to improving as an all-round player, show my strengths and keep improving on my weaknesses.”