Following Barnet’s heavy defeat to Halifax last weekend, there have been a lot of changes at the club as Martin Allen explained during his interview on the website this week. 

Mengerink and Casabella left, with injuries curtailing their brief Barnet careers, whilst loan signings Dani Lopez and Alex Peterson returned to their respective parent clubs. 

Casabella played really well in the early games as Barnet briefly topped the Conference table, but he couldn’t recapture his early season form following several injuries. 

Lopez scored a few classy goals, including a great effort against Alfreton, during two injury hit loan spells. Despite good pre season form (including a great goal vs Hitchin Town) Mergerink’s solitary competitive goal came at Aldershot. 

There have been changes in the dugout as well, with Uli Landvreugd leaving the coaching staff after serving briefly as head coach with Dick Schreuder and remaining in the coaching set-up following Allen’s return as manager. Barnet fans wish them all well.

So the Nuneaton game may be a new era of sorts for a much changed Barnet side. Martin Allen admitted as much when he confessed he would be using Saturday’s game to look at some of the other players in the squad who have not yet featured during his reign thus far. 

Expect perhaps a younger side in the Midlands then, but also a side hungry to prove to the manager that they deserve to wear the black and amber of Barnet next year. 

With play off hopes fading fast attention inevitably turns towards next season’s campaign – who will Martin Allen want in his squad for next year’s promotion push? With the game against Braintree coming just two days later, lots of squad players could feature over the Easter period. 

Lots for those players featuring over the two games to play for then, not least their future Barnet careers. Expect Allen to make more changes at The Hive as he builds his squad for next season but not before casting his eye over the players currently at his disposal against Nuneaton and then Braintree over the Easter weekend…