The Bees kick off their competitive campaign tomorrow afternoon as they make the short journey to the Cledara Abbey Stadium to face newly-promoted League One side Cambridge United in the first round of the Carabao Cup.
Dean Brennan and his side will travel up the A1 to face Neil Harris’ U’s as the competitive campaign gets underway on the road.
Barnet:
The Bees have played a total of nine pre-season friendlies over the past six weeks and have tested themselves against higher league opposition in the latter stages, including recently-promoted MK Dons and Bromley, putting themselves in the best possible position for tomorrow’s opener before the league campaign gets underway at home in just over a week’s time.
Dean Brennan has made 11 new additions to the squad so far for the new season, with a blend of experience and exciting young talent coming through The Hive Doors this summer.
As well as fresh faces, centre-back Nik Tavares has committed his future to the club, while Myles Kenlock has returned in the defence after impressing during pre-season.
This time last year, as one of the promoted sides out of the National League, Barnet faced Newport County in the preliminary round of the competition and forced a late comeback through Ryan Galvin and Rhys Browne to take the tie to penalties, in which the Bees were unfortunately knocked out by the Exiles.
Now entering the competition at the first round, the Bees will be looking for a way through a very disciplined and hard to break down Cambridge side, who they only managed to score one against in league action last season, but on the other hand, the U’s were unable to find the back of the net against Barnet in both fixtures.
After bursting onto the Barnet scene and scoring 12 goals in 19 starts following his arrival in January, forward Kabongo Tshimanga is one player to mention will no doubt be looking to open his account for the 2026/27 campaign tomorrow afternoon.
Cambridge United:
After a successful League Two campaign in which they grabbed the final automatic promotion spot, the U’s find themselves back in League One after only dropping into the fourth tier for a single campaign.
Neil Harris has welcomed seven new faces since the 2025/26 campaign concluded, including exciting youngster Isaac Heath on a permanent deal from Premier League side Everton.
The 21-year-old forward was on loan at a struggling Accrington Stanley side last season, but nonetheless provided a real threat in the front line and showed opposition sides the potential he has and how high his ceiling can be.
A familiar face also put pen to paper with the U’s in July, with former Barnet striker Callum Stead finding his new home at the Cledara Abbey Stadium. However, life in Cambridgeshire didn’t start out the way the 26-year-old was hoping it would, as he suffered a serious injury in the club’s first pre-season outing, ruling him out of action for the foreseeable, meaning he won’t come up against his former side tomorrow.
In the dugout:
Neil Harris has had two spells in charge of Cambridge United, with the first coming in December 2023, but after just 14 games in charge, he was approached by Championship side Millwall.
The 49-year-old returned to the U’s dugout in February 2025 when the club sat bottom of League One but after suffering relegation, was able to guide the club back to the third tier after just one season in League Two.
In his pre-match interview with Cambridge, Neil was asked about the test that Barnet will provide and touched on how impressed he was with Dean’s set-up last season, the way they played and said:
“That’s what you get with longevity of a manager at a football club and the style of play that’s there etc.”
One to watch:
One of Cambridge’s standout performers from last season who will be looking to hit the ground running again is Ben Knight.
The attacking midfielder impressed during his first season with the U’s, scoring 11 league goals while helping the club to automatic promotion, including five in five in January which earned him the Sky Bet League Two Player of the Month.
Following an impressive start to 2026, Knight put pen to paper on a long-term deal with the club shortly after.
Formerly on Manchester City’s books, the 24-year-old had loan spells at Crewe Alexandra and Stockport County, as well as a short spell with Spanish side Real Murcia before the move to Cambridge.
Known for his versatility across the attacking positions, Knight has an eye for goal and was one of the first names on Neil Harris’ teamsheet last season.
COYB
