Braintree Town manager Jamie Day is warning Iron fans to expect inconsistencies from his team through the early part of the Vanarama National League season.

Day was pleased to see his team record their first competitive win under his managerial tenure as they beat Aldershot 2-0 at the Avanti Stadium last weekend and he is hoping they can build on that over a busy weekend of action coming up.

Braintree travel to Barrow AFC tomorrow before returning home to face Torquay United on Bank Holiday Monday (kick-off 3pm).

However, prior to their opening win, the Iron had two disappointing results against Maidstone and Macclesfield when they paid the price for sluggish starts and Day said ups and downs are to be expected as his newly-assembled squad continue to bed in together.

He said: “It’s always nice to get the first win and you want that as soon as possible – even more so when you have a new manager and group of players coming together.

“So I’m pleased for them.

“We could have won sooner, but it’s not the end of the world that we have had to wait.

“We’re only a few points off the sides in 10th and it’s the start to the season that I expected to be honest.

“I know there’s a lot more to come as the boys will improve and it’s all about people staying patient.

“Performances may be a bit up and down, but that’s all part of a new team coming together.

“As I said in pre-season, people who know football will tell you that it takes a long time for a new group to gel.

“Macclesfield and Eastleigh - teams that we’ve played - are full-time and Maidstone are a group who have been together for three or four years so they are three games where we’d really have been up against it even without the rebuilding that we’ve had to do.

“We’re not in a position to say we’ll be going for the play-offs again because of the players that we lost and there will be inconsistencies. People have to accept that, but they can be assured that the players are working very hard to take on board what we are telling them.

“In the five games that we’ve had, I can’t fault their effort and as long as I’m getting that then I know we’ll continue to improve.”

Iron captain Jon Ashton will return from the one-match ban he served against Aldershot for the trip to Barrow.

Day said his skipper’s return will leave him with a tough decision to make in his defensive line-up after they kept a clean sheet in his absence last weekend, but he is expecting a tough encounter in Cumbria.

“We’ve had Barrow watched and got reports on them and know it will be a tough place to go,” added the Iron boss.

“They are a big, physical side who can play as well so we know we will have to defend well and start well to give ourselves the best possible chance.

“At this level, you have to start on the front foot and at a good tempo, to give yourself the chance to win the game and that’s especially the case with a new group like we’ve got.

“You don’t want players having to dig themselves out of a hole if they’ve started slowly.”