Barnet’s new recruit Conor Clifford spoke to the club’s official website this morning, and revealed that he was thrilled to have joined the Bees and cannot wait to get underway.

Clifford joined the club last night on a short-term loan deal from Southend United with less than an hour of transfer deadline day to go following interest from other clubs, and having arrived at The Hive for the first time this morning he is confident that he made the right decision:

“It is great. I am delighted to come here. I spoke to Martin Allen last night and he told me that he’d like me to come and I just can’t wait to get started.

“Just speaking to the gaffer and the way that he was selling himself and the club was what made my mind up. I know that he is a really good manager who has managed a lot of good clubs.

“He is well respected in the game and it is obviously a great set-up here with the training ground and a brand new stadium.”

With a home game against Woking to come this weekend, Conor says the he is now relishing the challenge of helping Barnet to maintain their position at the top of the Vanarama Conference table:

“I’m looking forward to it, it’s a good challenge. I’m a box-to-box midfielder that likes to get my foot in and get stuck in and get a few goals hopefully. It is really important for me to get playing some games and hopefully do well.

“They are flying at the minute and I can’t wait to come into a winning team. There seems to be a good atmosphere around the place, and I can’t wait to get started. I wanted to come to Barnet because they are top of the league and I want to help them stay there.”

Meanwhile, manager Martin Allen also talked us through his thinking in bringing Conor to the club:

“I have known Conor for a long, long time and I have watched him for years. I’ve seen him travel around the country at various clubs and at some point he will settle down and I am sure that he will have a good career.

“He is a very good technical player, he’s got an eye for goal and he is feisty which he’ll have to learn to control.

“He has done well at certain places in short spells, but at some point he is going to need to find somewhere where he is going to make his mark. I am hoping that, if he has the right attitude and work ethic, he’ll be able to do that here.”