Striker Jack Hindle is delighted to have been given a chance to impress new Barrow AFC manager David Dunn, after thinking that his time with the club was coming to an end.

Hindle found starting opportunities hard to come by during the Bluebirds’ promotion campaign, in what was his second year at the Holker Street side, and moved out on loan to Gateshead just over two weeks before the coronavirus pandemic halted the campaign.

The 26-year-old was expecting to be released prior to the departure of former AFC boss Ian Evatt to Bolton Wanderers, but he has since been given a fresh opportunity.

Along with defender Connor Brown, Hindle was offered ‘terms of re-engagement,’ meaning he will join in pre-season training, whenever that starts, with the incentive of still being able to earn himself a new contract.

Hindle said: “I’m made up about that and I just can’t wait to get back started.

“I’ve heard a lot of stuff about the new manager from Lewis [Hardcastle] because he had him with the under-23s at Blackburn and I’ve only heard good things.

“Browny worked with him at Oldham, so I’ve heard some good things about him there and I’m looking forward to getting started on this new challenge.”

Hindle has never played in the EFL in his career and admits himself that moving to the Bluebirds from Colwyn Bay in 2018 was a big step up in quality of its own.

After top-scoring with 12 goals in his first season with AFC, he found the in-form Scott Quigley and Dior Angus barring his way to the starting line-up in the campaign just finished, but he feels he can step up another level.

Hindle said: “It’s a bit of deja vu for me because when I first moved to Barrow from Colwyn Bay it was quite a jump. Certainly for me it was a big challenge and a step into the unknown.

“It’s a bit of a free hit for me because you’re going there and you feel like you’ve got loads to prove, but you’ve got to go there and try to be confident and rely on your own ability because that needs to shine through, at the end of the day.”

Hindle was pleased to see Barrow bring in Dunn quite quickly after Evatt’s departure, as it means the players can start looking ahead to one of the most anticipated seasons in the club’s history.

“It had to move quickly after the gaffer going, especially with what’s going on at the minute,” Hindle said.

“You can’t have guys going out of contract for too long and it was a weird time for some of the lads who were in that situation, as there were quite a lot of us who were about to be released, so we needed to know what was going on, but the club have been brilliant, to be fair.”