It's been a tough return to the Football League for last season's Conference champions Barnet, with the Bees currently languishing in 19th place in the League Two standings. Things initially appeared to be going in the right direction at the start of the Christmas period, after consecutive wins against Boston and Peterborough, but three successive defeats, including last weekend's 4-1 loss at Lincoln, has seen the Underhill outfit slip into the bottom six. Givemefootball's Mark Shail caught up with left-sided defender Simon Clist, who is hoping to make a return to the first team against Wycombe this Saturday after missing the defeat at Sincil Bank with a hamstring strain.
Q:WHAT'S THE UPDATE ON YOUR INJURY?
A:I played four games over Christmas in a short period of time and I started to feel a niggle in my hamstring, which gradually began to get worse. I continued to train on it but I could tell it wasn't right so the only sensible thing to do was to rest it before it got any worse.
Q:WHAT ARE YOUR CHANCES OF MAKING THIS WEEKEND'S GAME?
A:It's possible I could be back for the Wycombe match, we'll just have to see how the injury reacts over the next couple of days. I can still feel it a little bit at the moment but there's still four days to go before that game, so I'm still hopeful.
Q:HOW ARE THE PLAYERS FINDING LIFE IN LEAGUE TWO COMPARED TO THE CONFERENCE?
A:It's certainly a lot different to the Conference. Teams are fitter and much more organised in the Football League and quite often they have a set game plan, which they stick to. For that reason, defences are much harder to break down so you have to be ready to take your chances when they come your way.
Q:IS IT FAIR TO SAY THINGS HAVEN'T GONE QUITE AS WELL AS YOU'D HAVE LIKED OVER THE FESTIVE PERIOD?
A:It started really well with a couple of wins against Boston and Peterborough, but the last few results against Darlington, Notts County and Lincoln have been disappointing and we need to get back to winning ways as soon as we can. It's frustrating because before the Notts County and Darlington matches we had the opportunity of going above those clubs if we'd beaten them. But instead we now find ourselves sixth from bottom whereas they're now both in the top half of the table.
Q:BUT THE LEAGUE IS STILL VERY TIGHT, ISN'T IT?
A:Although we're sixth from bottom we're actually only five points from the top half of the table. So if we can string a few good results together the play-offs could still be a possibility. But in the meantime we have to get ourselves up that table as quickly as possible because the last thing we want is to be sucked into a relegation scrap.
Q:IS THE HOME FORM THE KEY?
A:Yes, we've got a decent record at Underhill but there is still room for improvement. Our form on the road has been inconsistent though and that's something we will be working on for the remainder of the season.
Q:ARE YOU EXPECTING THE MANAGER TO BRING IN ANY NEW FACES?
A:There have been no new signings as yet, but he has hinted he might be looking to bring another striker to the club. I'm sure, like every manager, he would like to make one or two signings just to give him a couple more options.
