A rejuvenated Martin Allen says that he has made the most of having a week to reflect ahead of this weekend’s trip to take on Altrincham.

Having been laid low with flu all week, Martin says that he has used the time to both assess the season so far and plan for the final two months of the season as Barnet look to finish the campaign strongly:

“It has been a bit different for me as I’ve been off with flu so Stacky and Nursey have taken the training with the players.

“It has given me a chance to have a good think about things and reflect on how we have been doing during the season so far overall, and where we are right now with the difficult month that we have had.

“Having the flu and being crashed out on the sofa has given me a good chance to think about things and look at things and perhaps it is now time to just freshen things up a little bit just to help us all move forward.”

Barnet saw Bristol Rovers take over the top spot that they have held since August on Tuesday night after playing an extra game, but Martin insists that that will not alter the approach of the camp as they look to ensure that they end up on top of the pile in April:

“Of course it is going to affect the mindset, but the important people that it doesn’t affect are myself and the players – with the league table, games in hand, who’s playing who and what’s happening there.

“I can only work with my players, with Nursey and Stacky, and between us do the best we can – as we have done from day one. We’ve had an unbelievable seven months, to be top of the league for the whole season is quite incredible.

“They have caught us, they are above us, and now I suppose you could say that we have got to fight back.”

Although admitting that it has been a difficult month, the manager has no doubt that the group has what it takes to bounce back during the final stretch, starting with this weekend’s trip to Moss Lane: 

“The attitude of the players and myself, I don’t think that can be faulted. Everybody has worked as hard as they could on the training pitch. Training has been spot on and the analysis of the performances on the DVDs has been spot on.

“We had enough chances at Wrexham to have won three games, we had some good chances on Saturday. We’ve had some difficult decisions with substitutions with centre-backs having to go off injured at key moments in games.

“They have just gone against us a little bit, but we can’t blame those or use those as excuses or reasons for not winning. We have played how many cup finals since the beginning of the season with the best team coming into town, with five across midfield and five at the back when we play here at home.

“We have got to overcome all of those things and we have done – we have overcome some massive challenges throughout the season.

“Altrincham are third in the form table at the moment. They have got a good manager and some dangerous players.

“But if we play as well as we can play, and play as we did from the beginning, then we are strong. We know we are strong. We are the top goal scorers, we have got some good players, we have got some great supporters and we have to see it through.”

To watch the full interview with Martin on Barnet Player, simply click here.