The Bees welcome Oldham Athletic to The Hive tomorrow in matchday 26 of the 2025/26 Sky Bet League Two campaign.
Dean Brennan’s side came away empty handed from Blundell Park last time out, with only one goal making the difference in a 1-0 defeat in North-East Lincolnshire.
Just 11 minutes into the tie against the Mariners, Joe Kizzi was wrongfully given his marching orders, and the Bees were down to ten men.
The defender’s sending off has since been overturned and our number 30 is available for tomorrow’s game on home soil.
Despite the hosts having the extra men on Saturday, the Bees put in a resilient performance, defending as a unit and despite David Artell’s side overloading the Barnet box on numerous occasions, only Jayden Sweeney could slot the ball past Cieran Slicker early in the second-half.
The Bees had chances with Ryan Glover, Idris Kanu and a couple of Adam Senior headers from set-pieces, but they were unable to put any efforts in the back of the net and left Grimsby with nothing.
Barnet’s last five results:
Grimsby Town 1-0 Barnet FC
Barnet FC 2-1 Crawley Town
Bristol Rovers 0-2 Barnet FC
Newport County 0-0 Barnet FC
Barnet FC 1-3 Salford City
Oldham Athletic
The Latics currently sit 12th in the table, one place above the Bees, but with both sides on 35 points heading into Saturday’s match-up.
The Greater Manchester side still remain the best defensive outfit this campaign, having only conceded 20 goals across 26 games, but on the other hand are 19th for goals scored in the division.
Latics’ shot-stopper Matthew Hudson still tops the clean sheet charts with ten, just one above our number 29, registering his most recent one on Boxing Day away at Grimsby Town, with Micky Mellon’s side unbeaten in their past six games.
Last time out, Oldham beat Cheltenham Town 2-1, with goals coming from Joe Garner and Kai Payne for the hosts after finding themselves a goal down in the first-half.
Jake Bickerstaff drew a foul in the area for the Robins, allowing the visitors to strike first at Boundary Park, before Garner equalised on the stroke of half-time, heading home from a corner. Payne then slotted home Oldham’s second of the afternoon on the hour mark which ended up being the match-winner.
Oldham Athletics’ last five results:
Oldham Athletic 2-1 Cheltenham Town
Oldham Athletic 1-1 Chesterfield FC
Walsall 1-2 Oldham Athletic
Grimsby Town 0-0 Oldham Athletic
Oldham Athletic 3-1 Tranmere Rovers
In the opposition dugout:
With no change in management since the reverse fixture, Micky Mellon remains on the touchline for the Latics, surpassing 3 years in charge of the Greater Manchester side.
Mellon is without his son, Michael, who suffered a serious hamstring injury on Boxing Day and fears he will be sidelined for the remainder of the campaign.
Since the January transfer window opened, Oldham have bought in only one addition, adding 20-year-old Kane Taylor to their midfield options on loan from Aston Villa.
One to watch:
With reliable forward Mellon sidelined, recent goals have had to come from elsewhere and stepping up in his absence has been James Garner.
Finding the back of the net over 170 times across his 20-year career, his aggressive and physical nature up front makes him a target man for teammates to feed into.
His versatile and dynamic presence allows him to defend from the front and his ability to hold the ball well allows him to create goalscoring opportunities in challenging situations.
Last time the two sides met:
When the Bees travelled to Boundary Park in September, it was a perfect start when the referee pointed to the penalty spot following a hand ball and Mark Shelton stepped up to confidently dispatch his spot-kick against his former side.
A dominant first-half display from the Bees saw an effort from Danny Collinge cleared off the line, before Lee Ndovu smashed the ball off the bar, with a handful of other chances falling for the visiting side in the first 45.
Momentum swung in the hosts favour in the second-half, but Cieran Slicker stood up to a couple of one-on-one situations to deny them goalscoring opportunities.
The Latics did, however, get there equaliser from the spot, with Michael Mellon levelling the score and securing a stalemate.
COYB