Good morning.

We’re sat here this morning at the training ground, getting ready for our game on Saturday against our rivals – the local derby against Stevenage.

It’s seems a long time since our last home game against Cambridge.

I thought we played ever so well that day and kept a clean sheet.

There were numerous chances cleared off the line, and we hit the post and the crossbar repeatedly.

We weren’t able to turn an excellent performance into three points.

All of us, players and staff, are all excited about coming back to The Hive.

We’ve had a couple of trips away from home, where the boys have played well, but we haven’t managed to bag any points.

But they’ve been playing well and they’re doing ok.

There’s a little bit of room for improvement but this is an exciting game to bounce back after last Saturday’s match at Portsmouth.

I had a good chat with a few people at the service station on Saturday evening.

A nice family pulled up next to the team coach – all Barnet supporters.

It was a pleasure to meet those people, and two of the young supporters went onto the team bus to meet all the players.

I had a good chat with their Dads -we spoke about how well the team had played, and there was a bit of encouragement which was nice.

As a manager, when you don’t win it does get to me and it does hurt me.

That gave me a big boost and it lifted me.

I’ve got to say that I needed it as well, because I was disappointed that we didn’t come away with anything from the Portsmouth match.

I know that the players were disappointed after the game.

So that’s why I bought everyone on the coach an ice-cream at the service station.

I suppose at first everybody thinks that’s Martin being mad again!

But we all remember when we were little kids, and our mums or dads bought us an ice cream as a reward for good behaviour.

As you can imagine, for me that was very rare!

I shook every player’s hand on the bus after talking to those supporters.

I said well done, you’re doing great.

Let’s keep going, let’s keep the belief, let’s keep moving forward.

All the players were sat on the coach going up the A3 back to London eating an ice cream.

They were kind of pleased with themselves, but obviously with a tinge of disappointment.

We’ve been building on that and kept working together on and off the field.

The players, supporters and staff all need to keep moving forward.

I cannot wait for Saturday.

Gary Waddock’s been back in for the last week, which has been a great help to me personally.

He’s been good on the training pitch – he’s bright and full of energy, so that’s been a boost.

Apart from our analyst who supporters Stevenage, we’re all in a good place this week.

But I’m trying to straighten him out and put him in the right direction, because obviously he’s not quite right!

I’m looking forward to seeing you all at the weekend.

I want the place buzzing, I want the place bright – exactly the same off the field as it is on the field.

Everybody’s got to play their part.

See you on Saturday.

Martin.