STRIKER James Constable will be watching Eastleigh’s clash of the National League heavyweights at Barrow on TV on Saturday (BT Sport, 12.15pm) instead of playing in it.

Having been restored to the starting line-up at home to Torquay on Tuesday, Constable went to ground after taking an 86th-minute blow the face as he got sandwiched between two players. After lengthy treatment, he exited the pitch looking dazed.

“He won’t travel,” confirmed manager Ronnie Moore. “He got a fair-sized bump on the side of his cheekbone and was semi knocked out. There’s a five-day rule after a blow to the head, so he can’t be involved. We’ll take Adam Dawson in the 18 instead.

“It’s a shame for Beano because he’d just got himself back into the team.”

The Spitfires will stop for afternoon training at Preston North End tomorrow as they make their way up for an overnight stay in the north-west.

Eastleigh’s coachload of fans, meanwhile, will be hitting the road at the unearthly hour of 3.45am on Saturday to make it to Holker Street for the lunchtime kick-off.

On paper, the clash has all the ingredients to make the 600-mile round trip worthwhile.

Fifth-placed Barrow are unbeaten in 14 games (12 in the league), while Eastleigh – a point shy of the Bluebirds in seventh - have lost just once in 13 VNL outings since Moore was named Chris Todd’s successor in August.

“It should make a good TV game, but sometimes they end up as a boring 0-0 and you wonder what all the fuss was about,” smiled Moore.

“It’s very close between us, but Barrow are in the position we want to be in. If we get a result, it’s got to put us in the top five surely.

“We know they’re decent, but we don’t need to go there gung-ho, we’ll just play our game.”

Constable’s absence leaves Moore with Ryan Bird, Mikael Mandron and Jamie Cureton to choose from up top.

Cureton, 41, netted his first Spitfires’ goal against Torquay as Moore opted to bench Bird and Mandron and go with an older combination.

With wide man Luke Coulson currently the Spitfires’ top league scorer with six goals, the boss wants more from his strikers.

“Normally I like an established 11 who know where they are but, if you don’t have a goalscorer, it’s all a bit pick ‘n’ mix,” he said.

“But young Scott Wilson's getting fit now and he’ll offer us something different. He came back too early from his hamstring injury last time and it’s all about getting him right.”

Barrow have strengthened with the signing of central defender Myles Anderson, a former Blackburn Rovers player who has spent the last three seasons in Italy.