Bayliss believes Salisbury are the "benchmark" for his team this season

Barrow joint-manager Dave Bayliss says his team are happy to continue playing the role of underdog this season.

Bayliss believes his team's pre-season billing as one of the relegation favourites has helped them climb to fifth in the Blue Square Premier.

"We've known all along that we have quality players in our team but we never liked to brag about it," Bayliss told BBC Radio Cumbria.

"It's nice to be the underdog going into these games every week."

Barrow have claimed four wins and two draws from their opening eight fixtures.

"Any level you go to, the quality of player improves the higher you go," he said.

We want to go into every game believing we can compete with any team in this league Barrow joint-manager Dave Bayliss

"We're not a complete outfit yet, we need to improve in certain areas but that will come in time."

The Bluebirds picked up their second win on the road at Lewes last weekend as goals from Paul Brown, Steve McNulty and Nick Rogan sealed a 3-0 win in East Sussex.

"We expected it to be a lot tougher than it actually was and in the end it turned out to be quite comfortable for us," Bayliss said.

"We could have got a few more goals but we were delighted with the way we played."

Bayliss also praised the club's travelling supporters who made the trip down to the South Coast for the Lewes game.

"I couldn't believe how good they were. All we could hear all game was their singing.

"We had the privilege to stop off at a service station with them and it was fantastic to mix with them. They were amazing."

The Bluebirds face another long trip to Salisbury this weekend with Bayliss confident his side can extend their good form.

"We'll go down there with high expectations of what we can do," he said.

"We looked at teams like Salisbury and what they did last year. They more than matched the full-time teams last season and they are our benchmark.

"We want to go into every game believing we can compete with any team in this league."