Although the start of the Conference Premier is a month away, with the Bees beginning their competitive tenure at the Hive against Chester, Reckless’ guide to St Albans City reminds us all that there is a good deal of football to be played even before the season kicks off!  The Barnet Blog this week previews Barnet’s pre-season campaign.

 

The lower league opposition that the Bees face away from The Hive could be ideal opportunities for the youngsters to get a first team run out.  Keepers Sam Cowler and Dillon Barnes, as well as academy forwards George Sykes and Jamal Lowe could feature in those games.  In midfield Davids has a group of young midfielders and the likes of Ahmed Abdulla, Iffy Allen, Dom Vose and Freddie Warren could play a couple of games in pre season to see if they could challenge more seasoned campaigners such as Mark Byrne, Curtis Weston, or even the manager himself!

 

The two home games announced so far, Ipswich on 20th July and MK Dons on 27th July, should provide far sterner tests for the Bees.  Against this quality opposition Davids might want to test some of his more established players to see how they cope against League One and Championship opposition. Can new signing Anthony Achaempong and the rest of the Barnet back four keep a clean sheet against quality opposition?  Will Barnet’s front men be able to get off to a goalscoring start prior to the 2013/14 season?

 

All in all then there is quite a lot to look out for in the pre season games.  By the time you have read this, Barnet will have hopefully enjoyed a decent result at Clearance Park on Tuesday.  Last pre-season away at St Albans the Bees won by an implausible 10-2 scoreline.  Let’s hope that the loyal Bees who made the first away trip of the season were rewarded with a similar St Albans goal glut and it is the sign of things to come!