DARREN Edmondson has tentatively set his sights on the National League play-off spots after Barrow AFC secured their first away-day success of the campaign.

The Bluebirds' superb 2-1 win at Macclesfield Town on Tuesday night saw them bounce back from Saturday’s disappointing 3-1 home defeat by Aldershot Town.

But the Barrow boss is not getting over-excited at this stage in firing out the warning that AFC are sure to be hit by further setbacks and his men will need to show similar resilience and character as the season progresses.

After 12 games, the table is beginning to take some sort of shape, with fancied sides Forest Green Rovers and Cheltenham Town occupying the top two places.

While the likes of eighth-placed Grimsby have yet to reach their full potential, Barrow are 14th and just four points adrift of fifth-placed Braintree, who fill the final play-off spot.

Barrow will host bottom club Kidderminster Harriers on Saturday, and Edmondson said: “I think the top five or six are probably where most of them want to be.

“I think Grimsby maybe want to be higher. But we’ve got to worry about ourselves and if we can put a couple of back-to-back performances together then we’re touching the play-offs after what people have said was a poor start for us.

“We’re evolving as a football club and what the fans have got to understand is there are going to be some setbacks.

“But if the players respond to each setback like that then the fans will start to appreciate how difficult this league is, but on the flip side, we can match anybody when we’ve got all the players right and we’re pulling in the right direction.

“It’s a slow and difficult journey, but it’s going to be a positive one and they have got to get behind us.”

Andy Cook’s tidy 55th-minute finish handed Barrow the lead at Macclesfield before a Paul Lewis header levelled for the hosts three minutes later.

However, substitute striker Ashley Grimes earned AFC’s 86th-minute penalty, which was emphatically dispatched by Cook.

Edmondson praised Grimes’ vital contribution and called on the summer signing to display consistency and to showcase his intelligent play.

Barrow have got their away campaign on track with four successive on-the-road defeats being followed by a respectable 1-1 draw at fifth-placed Braintree Town and Tuesday’s triumph at Macc.

Edmondson added: “I think we probably deserved to win at Braintree so I think we’ve turned the corner with regards to understanding the performances, drive and work ethic that is needed away from home.

“Grimes came on and found some great pockets of space in the last 10 or 15 minutes after Jason Walker and Andy Cook had worked so hard together to tire Macclesfield’s defence out.

“And then what you need is a squad of players that can turn things around and with Grimes coming on and Alex-Ray Harvey putting in a little shift at the end, you need all of your players pulling in the right direction.”