Martin Allen admitted that his side had been outplayed by Lincoln City on Sunday as the Bees went down 4-1 at Sincil Bank, although he felt that the Bees had been unfortunate to lose by the margin that they did.
Speaking after the game, the manager said:
“It was a funny afternoon really – I do not mean funny ‘ha-ha’. We had some good chances in the first half, we had a lot of chances in the first half, but we found ourselves 2-0 down.
“They took their chances and then the kid scored a 25-yarder into the roof of the goal which was a brilliant shot for 2-0. You couldn’t say that we deserved to be 2-0 down at that point.
“We were playing some good stuff, we were competitive and passing the ball well and had several opportunities before half time.
“I think, probably, we had more chances than they did but they were cleared off the line and blocked and to be fair to them, you can see the run they have been on and you can see how they got there.”
Martin reacted by making three substitutions at half-time, although once Elliott Johnson went off with a hamstring strain shortly after the break Barnet’s task became even tougher as they were forced to play the remainder of the game with ten men.
However, Martin said that he had no regrets about the triple change as he looked to force a way back into the game:
“We had to do something different. We looked leggy as the game went on and you could see that they were fresher than us. The only regrets I have are when I do not make decisions. In the job I do you have to make decisions. If you are indecisive then you have got a problem.
“I wanted to add pace. I needed something different in the middle of the pitch and Marsh-Brown and Gambin have got good energy. We had a couple more chances in the second half but it was not to be.
“We had a gamble in the second half but when it was 3-0 we were not sure really what to do to be honest. They were always going to be dangerous on the counter attack.
“I thought our players had a real good go, I don’t think you can knock their effort or their commitment. It was nice to see Luke get a goal at the end, I was pleased for him. But I was disappointed for all the Barnet fans behind the goal there.”
Martin also admitted that he felt a busy Christmas schedule had finally caught up with his players, with Lincoln benefitting from having their game at Alfreton on New Year’s Day postponed due to a waterlogged pitch:
“Fair play to them, today they were the better team. Whether that has got anything to do with us playing three days ago and them having a day off so to speak, I do not know.
“We have had five games in fifteen days and over the next five weeks we have got five.
“The players now need to have a rest, they need to have a break, they need to recharge their batteries and we have got to get these boys ready for our next trip away to Grimsby. They all deserve a good break as well, because they have been superb in my opinion.”
