Martin Allen says that he is looking forward to getting back underway in the Vanarama Conference this weekend, as Barnet return to action on Saturday with a trip to fourth-placed Grimsby Town.

The game comes after a two-week break since the Bees’ last outing against Lincoln, and the manager believes that a bit of time off has done the players the world of good after a hectic Christmas schedule:

“They were upset after the Lincoln game. I honestly do not think they had too much more left in their legs.

“I think that the players that day gave everything they had but I do not think they had the pace, energy or the athleticism we normally have in our play.  Even when we do not play well, we normally have those traits within our play.

“It has done everybody good to not see each other for a couple of days and have a break, have a weekend off and now it is full-on all the way through until the end of the season.”

It has been all go for Martin however, who travelled up to watch this Saturday’s opponents play Gateshead in the FA Trophy last weekend:

“The players have had the weekend off but I have been up to Grimsby to watch them play against Gateshead, so that was a nice Saturday of seven-and-a-half hours in the car.

“But there is no way I could just have sat at home. I was going to go to Eastleigh on Saturday afternoon to watch them play Lincoln but I thought it would be better to watch Grimsby.

“There are good side who play some good football. They are a tidy team who have some good players and it was not long ago, only a few weeks ago, they were in second place.”

Despite the game against the Mariners being a top-of-the-table clash, Martin finished by saying that he will not be treating the game differently to any other as Barnet look to maintain their lead at the top from now until the end of the season:

“We know they are difficult, but I think every supporter will recognise now that with the great runs that Dover, Southport and all these fantastic runs teams down the bottom of the league have put together, there is not one easy game to be played between now and the end of the season.

“There will be challenges from everybody throughout, right through until the end. We have just seen in the Premier League, Chelsea have lost an eight-point lead in just a few weeks. Crazy things can happen and it is just important we concentrate on how we play and how we train.

“We are never going to be patting ourselves on the back or popping champagne corks. And if it does not go right at certain times, we won’t be banging our heads against the wall as if it’s a disaster.

“There are loads of games to play and loads of challenges from the teams below. We know we are there to be shot at.

“It is the same as any other game. Nothing is going to change. I have always maintained from when we got together in pre-season, if we play to our capabilities we will win.”