The Bees are in Vertu Trophy action tonight, welcoming fellow League Two side Cambridge United to the Hive in a 7:45pm kick-off.
Barnet:
This is the Bees’ final fixture of the competition’s group stage, having lost the opening match 4-1 to League One outfit Luton Town, before hosting Brighton U21s in North West London.
The game against the young Seagulls ended 1-1 after the 90 minutes, thanks to an equaliser from Callum Stead after the visitors took the lead in the first-half, with the Bees earning the extra point in the penalty shootout.
Dean Brennan’s side come into tonight’s game off the back of a 1-0 defeat to Notts County on home soil in the league, with youngster Tyreese Hall scoring in the 94th minute.
Despite dominating possession for large parts of the game, particularly in the first 45, the Bees were limited to only five shots on target out of 18, with Lee Nloduv coming agonisingly close to giving the Bees the lead in the first-half and Romoney Crichlow and Nnamdi Ofoborh having chances of their own following the restart.
Cieran Slicker will return in net, with tonight’s fixture not counting towards his 3-match ban, and fans should expect to see plenty of changes to Dean Brennan’s side from Saturday’s league game against the Magpies.
Barnet’s last five results:
Barnet FC 0-1 Notts County
Tranmere Rovers 0-2 Barnet FC
Barnet FC 2-0 Accrington Stanley
Barnet FC 1(5)-1(4) Brighton U21s
Oldham Athletic 1-1 Barnet FC
From the dugout:
Connor Smith’s pre-match interview can be viewed HERE!
Cambridge United:
The U’s come into the fixture following a 2-1 win over Bromley at the weekend, with Shayne Lavery and Kylian Kouassi’s first-half goals securing a home victory for Neil Harris and his side.
Michael Cheek closed the deficit for the Ravens early in the second period of the game, lobbing the ball over Jake Eastwood in the Cambridge net, but even with an additional 15 minutes of the half, the visitors were unable to rescue a point on the road.
Cambridge have only played one fixture in the Vertu Trophy so far, beating Luton 3-1 at Cledara Abbey Stadium earlier this month.
Neil Harris made ten changes from the previous league outing at home to Crawley, with midfielder James Brophy keeping his place in the starting XI for the game against the League One side.
The Hatters took the lead through Mads Juel Andersen, before Glenn McConnell equalised for the U’s, with Elias Kachunga adding a goal either side of half-time to secure victory for Cambridge.
Cambridge United’s last five results:
Cambridge United 2-1 Bromley
Shrewsbury Town 2-0 Cambridge United
Cambridge United 3-1 Luton Town (Vertu Trophy)
Cambridge United 3-1 Crawley Town
Tranmere Rovers 0-0 Cambridge United
In the opposition dugout:
The U’s play under the guidance of 46-year-old Garry Monk, who took charge of the club in March 2024. The club ended the 2023/24 season 18th in League One, before suffering relegation back to the fourth tier last campaign with an injury-riddled squad.
Monk played professionally and spent the final decade of his career at Swansea City, where he was then appointed player-manager and in his only full season in charge of the Swans, led them to an eight-place finish in the Premier League.
The natural leader has also held positions at Leeds United, Middlesbrough, Birmingham City and Sheffield Wednesday before the move down to Cambridgeshire.
One to watch:
With the U’s expected to rotate as heavily as they did for their opening fixture of the competition, 33-year-old Elias Kachunga could be given another run out after only coming off the bench on Saturday very late on and not being favoured as a league starter under Monk this season.
The centre-forward scored the brace that sealed the win for Cambridge in their previous Vertu Trophy fixture, with his threat at indirect set pieces and ability to intercept the ball in dangerous areas being key assets he brings to the squad.
The German-born striker has contributed to over 100 goals across his professional career, which has seen him rack up over 500 appearances.
Last time the two sides met:
The last time the two sides met competitively was on Boxing Day in 2017, with the U’s coming out on top in a 1-0 win in a Sky Bet League Two fixture.
COYB