'Penny must drop' for Barrow to avoid drop - Canavan
Niall Canavan has played under eight different permanent bosses in his time at Barrow
- Published
Barrow captain Niall Canavan says the "penny must drop" in the Bluebirds squad if they are to stand any chance of avoiding relegation from League Two.
Saturday's 5-0 defeat at Grimsby Town was the lowest point in a horrendous season, which leaves Barrow bottom of the table, two points from safety with eight games left.
With player-coach Sam Foley now the fifth person to pick the team this campaign, the club is in a dire run of two wins in 25 league games.
Next up is a home match with leaders Bromley, which Canavan admits nobody will anticipate anything other than an away win.
The skipper believes that something drastic has to happen quickly within the group.
"The next game is the biggest game and the penny has to drop or the luck has to change or hopefully both," Canavan told BBC Radio Cumbria.
"These games are going to get tough now. Physically it's the end of the season, mentally it's going to be tough and we've got to be up to it."
'Stark realities' of relegaton
Since Andy Whing was sacked as head coach in December, Barrow have taken just nine points from a possible 57 to put their six-year stay in the EFL in peril.
As well as Bromley, all but one of Barrow's remaining games are against teams in the top half of League Two, so the fixture list offers little respite to reverse their wretched form.
Canavan has called on the players to try to find self-motivation from wherever possible as he contemplates the "stark realities" of relegation.
"I'm out of contract in the summer," he said. "Am I going to play football again anywhere? I don't know. Will anybody want me after this?
"There are stark realities to this. Young players, old players, everyone has got stuff on the line.
"You have to get out there and you have to show what you're about and why you want to play football. What do you do it for? What's your purpose?
"You've got to represent what you're about and give it everything.
"The more of us that are doing that, the more of us that look like we've got that little bit of edge, the closer we'll claw to getting those results we need."