After a hectic Christmas and New Year period Barnet have had some time to rest up following the glut of festive football.

Since the Bees last played, John Akinde has been named as December’s Player of the Month in the Vanarama Conference. This will come as no surprise to regulars at The Hive, who have seen Barnet’s number nine put in excellent performances again and again this season.

On his day he is unplayable and more often than not finishes the chances that the team provide him with, as well as having the ability to create something out of nothing on his own. Well done John, and long may your goal-scoring form continue!

A further bit of good news was the addition of Michael Gash to the Barnet ranks. With Bernard Mensah returning to Watford, a signing to bolster Barnet’s attacking options is welcome news.

We saw him cause the Bees problems in the 3-3 draw at home to Kidderminster earlier in the season when he came on at half time, scored their first goal and changed the game. I’m certainly pleased that he will be on our side for the remainder of the campaign! Welcome, Michael.

Looking back, I think Barnet can take great satisfaction from the results over the festive period. We still find ourselves on top of the league in the middle of January, and who wouldn’t have taken that at the start of the season?

We have put in different kinds of performances over the last few weeks – grinding out a 1-0 win on New Year’s Day, showing great spirit to come back from 2-0 down against Dover, and an Akinde hat-trick which blew away the Shots on Boxing Day.

I don’t read too much into the Lincoln game given they didn’t play on New Year’s Day so were much fresher. That is absolutely crucial when you’ve played five games in such a short space of time. On top of that extra rest, the Bees then had to play most of the second half with ten men. As Martin said, the players understandably didn’t have much left in the tank.

We dust ourselves down and go again for the big game up at Grimsby on Saturday, live on BT Sport. Respect to all the Bees fans making the trip up north for the early kick-off.

The game is also being shown live at The Hive for those who can’t make the trip. Let’s hope this time around the fact that Barnet are the more rested side will work to our advantage. Come on you Bees!