PREVIEW: Luton Town v Barrow

The Bluebirds were forced to postpone the confirmation of Danny O’Donnell’s move from Stockport County after the embargo was confirmed by chairman Brian Keen at the weekend.

He said: “Yes there is a National Insurance bill, but that has been handled.

“Things are tight, one small NI bill that has been up to date has slipped and a cheque should have gone on Thursday or Friday. There’s nothing to worry about on the finances of the club.

“With money that we were owed that is substantial, we can clear one or two other things up this week.

“The player who was due to sign for us, that’s still very much on and as far as I’m concerned everything is OK on that front.”

The club also released a statement on their official website yesterday, confirming their position, which read: “Having a player embargo placed on the club is not something that we wanted to happen, nor is it where we want to be but given recent circumstances of cup postponements due to weather and the loss of a home league game to the cup replay followed by no home game until late January, the club has a cash flow problem.

“The board can reassure fans that there is no long term financial danger to the club. Obviously money is tight with lower than hoped for league gates of less than a thousand. You can rest assured that the situation will be resolved at the earliest opportunity this week.”

Boss Dave Bayliss, speaking to local media, added: “All the club is doing is trying to stay in this league and to do so it costs a lot financially. Things like travelling to away games, overnight stays and paying referees all cost.

“I just think we all really need to pull together. Getting on people’s backs and pointing fingers will not help the cause.”

On the pitch, its been a miserable season for Barrow thus far with only five Conference victories to their name.

The club didn’t win any of their first seven league matches, before a brief revival saw them win five out of nine, before hitting yet another slump.

They went eight league games and over three months without a win, before a surprise 1-0 triumph at Gateshead on New Year’s Day, although they were then beaten at Kidderminster on Saturday.

Barrow’s FA Trophy form has been the only bright point though as they reached the third round after a 5-1 thrashing of Chesham before Christmas.

Although boss Dave Bayliss can’t add to his squad at the moment, he has ruled out a return for Blackpool striker Louis Almond after his recent loan deal expired as they 20-year-old in his third spell at Holker Street, failed to impress with two goals in 14 games.

Team news: Barrow might only have 12 players to pick from if their transfer embargo is not lifted before the game.

Winger Danny Rowe’s contract at the club has now expired, while loan players Joe Jackson and Tom Anderson have returned to parent club Burnley following the end of their spells at Holker Street.

For Hatters, both Simon Ainge and Scott Neilson are available after being cup-tied, while Danny Spiller and Garry Richards remain on the injured list. They are joined by JJ O’Donnell after his broken nose at the weekend and James Dance still remains a doubt.

Top BSBP scorer: Hatters - Stuart Fleetwood (10). Bluebirds - Richard Baker and Adam Boyes (7).

In charge: Dave Bayliss - Liverpool born defender who joined Rochdale, making over 150 appearances before spells at Luton, Chester City, Wrexham and then back at Spotland.

Moved to Lancaster City in 2006 and then joined Barrow becoming joint manager alongside Darren Sheridan in November 2007.

Led the Bluebirds back into the Conference with a play-off win over Stalybridge Celtic in 2008-09 and also masterminded a Wembley appearance in the FA Trophy final where they lost 2-1 to Stevenage after extra time.

Took sole charge when Sheridan left the club in February 2012.

View from the opposition: Dave Bayliss: “With the effort and determination, and hopefully we can bring another couple of players into the club, I’m very confident that we can get out of this.

“We have shown that we can compete, but we have to make teams work harder to score against us. The quality is not there at the moment but we are confident that we can get a bit of quality in to change things.”

One to watch: Adam Boyes - Barrow’s top scorer in all competitions, he is back in form in the league once more with two goals in his last three games.

The 22-year-old started life at York, before spells with Scunthrope, Kidderminster and Boston before joining Barrow in July 2011. Netted 16 times last yearand has got nine so far this campaign in a struggling team, including the winnet at Gateshead on New Year’s Day.

Friendly faces: Boss Dave Bayliss joined Luton in 2001-02, and spent four seasons at Kenilworth Road, making 37 league appearances before being released in the summer of 2005.

Town stiker Jon Shaw also had a loan spell at Barrow during the 2009-10 season from Rochdale. Scored five goals in 14 Conference appearances and played against Luton in a 1-0 defeat at Kenilworth Road as Adam Newton netted the winner.

We’ve got form: Hatters have an almost perfect record against their opponents, winning six out of seven matches at home.

Town won all meetings in the 1960s, when the sides were in Division Four and the old Third Division, before they triumped in two out of three Blue Square Bet Premier clashes, the other match a 0-0 draw.

Luton’s best win is 5-1, which they have achieved twice, the first time back on March 26, 1969 when Alan Slough, Keith Allen, Bruce Rioch and Brian Lewis (2) were on target in front of 14,244 fans.

In total Luton have scored 20 goals and conceded a mere five times against their opponents.

Last time out: Luton were handed an early scare against Barrow as Jack Mackreth netted after just two minutes, before the hosts eased to a 5-1 triumph.

Robbie Willmott levelled on 12 minutes, before Luton ran out comfortable winners in the second period as Willmott (46), Adam Watkins (55), James Dance (61) and Amari Morgan-Smith (75) all scored.

Hatters: Mark Tyler, Jake Howells, Curtis Osano, Jamie Hand, Janos Kovacs, Keith Keane, Robbie Willmott, James Dance, Amari Morgan-Smith, Aaron Oconnor (Danny Crow 64), Adam Watkins (John Paul Kissock 67).

Subs not used: Kevin Pilkington, Ed Asafu-Adjaye, Will Antwi.

Attendance: 5,613.

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