Fleetwood Town face the npower League 2’s bottom side on Saturday when Barnet visit Highbury.
By David MitchellFleetwood Town face the npower League 2’s bottom side on Saturday when Barnet visit Highbury.
Town manager, Micky Mellon, rules out any sense of complacency, particularly after Barnet’s home draw with fancied Rotherham last Saturday:
‘Any Football League side is going to be difficult and we are taking nothing for granted. The result against Rotherham shows us what they are capable of. We’ve had them watched and the reports suggest that they were unlucky not to win, so we know that the threat is there. We got a great result at a difficult place last weekend and look forward to yet another new fixture for the club on Saturday.’
Mellon and his men have had a good look at life in League 2 after eight games:
‘We’ve had to raise our standards in every way to adapt and I’m happy where we are. It’s been a great campaign so far. We’ve learned that you can get punished for pretty much every mistake you make and we just need to start imposing ourselves more at the other end. There’s undoubtedly a massive difference between the Conference and the Football League.’
There is little to report on the injury front with the manager likely to be able to choose from strength yet again. The unfortunate Anthony Barry continues to miss out but is currently continuing his rehabilitation at Lilleshall.
Barnet’s form on the road has been poor. Four away games have yielded no points and no goals. A total of just two points from eight league games, with an average of two goals a game conceded, suggests that this could be yet another difficult season for the Bees after three consecutive campaigns when Football League status was secured on the final day.
Confidence, a commodity in short supply, will have been raised by Saturday’s performance against Rotherham. Coach, Mark Robson, alluded to this when interviewed by the ‘Football League Paper’:
‘They have got a point on the table but more importantly they have gained lots of confidence going forward and that’s so important.’
With a total of three goals so far, Barnet have signed striker, Collins John, on a free transfer. John has Premier League experience with Fulham and Robson sees the former Netherlands international as someone who can be a ‘great asset’ to the team as well as a help to the younger players, as he told the ‘Barnet Times’:
‘It is a fantastic signing for us. He will be working hard over the next few weeks to get fit and match fit. We are hopeful he can score goals, along with others, that will help us move up the league.’
Full match details here
