Martin Allen hails battling qualities of Barnet

Posted Sunday, April 08, 2018 by PA

Barnet boss Martin Allen hailed the response from his team as they earned a 1-0 win over Forest Green Rovers.

Alex Nicholls’ low strike into the bottom corner just before half-time was enough to claim all three points and serve as the perfect way to bounce back to the disappointing display against Stevenage.

The win lifts Barnet off the foot of the League Two table and keeps their faint hopes of staying in the Football League alive with four games to go.

“It [the win] was well earned, it was hard work. It was a good win and a good three points,” Allen said.

“The response from the players today has been fantastic after the local derby against Stevenage where we didn’t play at all well.

“Credit to the players because they’re the ones that have done it, they’re the ones that blocked shots and crosses.

“Against Crewe we put on three players to win it and today certain players were absolutely exhausted but thankfully the substitutes came on and did well.

“Last time we played here we scored two penalties so to score in open play was great. We had a couple other chances as well and the goalkeeper made a brilliant save early on.

“We did have our backs to wall in the second half, it was parking the bus time. We couldn’t really get out but we managed to hang on to get the three points and we’ve still got a chance.”

Forest Green Rovers manager Mark Cooper felt his side lacked energy but remained upbeat about their chances of avoiding relegation.

“We didn’t look like we had any energy. The gameplan was to go after them but one to 11 we didn’t have any energy,” Cooper said.

“When you go onto that pitch you’ve got to give everything you’ve got in the right way but that didn’t happen.

“In the second half we dominated the game but didn’t create any chances so we’ve got look at if we picked the right team.

“We needed to create more clinical chances than we did. We can get loads of possession but it’s about what you do with it in the final third and we didn’t do enough with it today.

“Most people would’ve picked that team from what we had available so I’ll have to look at the team selection and formation.

“We know what we’ve got to do and it’s [avoiding relegation] is in our own hands.”