The Bees are back on home turf this weekend in our Sky Bet League Two fixture against Chesterfield.
The match will see Barnet looking to build on Tuesday’s 1-0 victory over Accrington Stanley.
Barnet’s 88 travelling fans were rewarded for their efforts as January signing Kabongo Tshimanga netted his fifth goal for the club.
Dean Brennan made three changes to the starting lineup as Callum Stead made his return for the first time since Boxing Day with Romoney Crichlow and Jack Howland also coming into the side.
Stead had an immediate impact on his first appearance of 2026, linking up with Kabongo Tshimanga, and playing the ball down the left and into his path, allowing our number 20 to send it home, past the keeper.
The linesman raised his flag and the Bees’ perfect start was ruled offside.
Stead showed his form again soon after as the hosts looked to take their first opportunity of the night, getting a touch on the ball and denying the chance.
The Bees dominated in the first-half, creating several chances but going into the break level.
After the restart, Barnet maintained their form with Ryan Glover and Nnamdi Ofoborh both getting close to opening the scoring.
The deadlock was finally broken with less than ten minutes remaining when Tshimanga collected a pass from Kanu and expertly looped the ball over the keeper.
Late substitutions helped the Bees to see out the win and secure all three points at the Wham Stadium.
Barnet’s last five results:
Accrington Stanley 0 – 1 Barnet FC
Colchester Utd 4 – 1 Barnet FC
Barnet FC 1 – 2 Swindon Town
Barnet FC 0 – 0 Cheltenham Town
Walsall 1 – 3 Barnet FC
Chesterfield:
The Spireites come into Saturday’s clash with two wins out of their last five and sit in 7th place – 3 points above the Bees.
Chesterfield visit the Hive off the back of a draw against Crawley Town where each team came away with a goal a-piece.
Both sides created early chances with Ferizaj, Duffy and Bonis all coming close to putting their team ahead in the first-half.
Chesterfield’s persistence paid off in the final minutes of the half after Mandeville fired the ball home from a deflection.
The second-half was quieter for both sides with several changes but neither managed another goal.
A header by Crawley Town’s Williams, deep into stoppage time, denied Chesterfield the win, but they extended their unbeaten run to six games.
Chesterfield’s last five results:
Crawley Town 1 – 1 Chesterfield
Chesterfield 1 – 0 Gillingham
Chesterfield 1 – 1 Harrogate Town
Bristol Rovers 2 – 3 Chesterfield
Chesterfield 2 – 2 Walsall
In the opposition dugout:
Chesterfield manager, Paul Cook, is four years into his second managerial spell at the club having been their manager in 2012-2015 too.
Cook brings experience from across the football league having been in charge for Ipswich Town’s back-to-back promotion to the Premier League.
Cook is joined by Danny Webb who is also in his second spell at Chesterfield.
First team coach, Kieron Dyer, spoke ahead of this weekend’s fixture:
“Barnet are really brave, and they go man for man at the back and try and attack with so many numbers. That’s why most of their games are really exciting. So, we expect a really hard game. We have to be at our best defensively as well.”
Chesterfield welcomed nine new signings in January 2025 including three premier league youngsters and Malik Owolabi-Belewu from the Canadian Premier League.
One to watch:
Chesterfield’s top goal scorer is 26-year-old Lee Bonis who joined the Spireites in the summer of 2025 and has scored eight goals for the Derbyshire side in the Sky Bet League Two 25/26 season.
Bonis brings international football experience having played for the Northern Ireland National Team after being called up in 2023.
Last time the sides met:
The points were left in Derbyshire last time out as Chesterfield ended the Bees’ unbeaten run on the road of eight games.
Chesterfield took the lead just after ten minutes played with Shelton pulling one back for Barnet from a corner by Smith as half-time approached.
Barnet began the second half brightly with Stead forcing the keeper into a close-range save and Smith unlucky not to capitalise when his effort struck the post.
Chesterfield secured their victory with two more goals before the final whistle.
COYB