Paul Fairclough has a fully fit squad to pick apart from long term absente. Simon King who was rested for the Bristol City game after his hamstring injury and also the risk of getting a 5th yellow card which will give him a one game ban. Charles is excepted to make way for King leaving the back four looking like; Hendon,Yakubu,King and Adam Gross. Despite heroics in the LDV Vans Trophy win against Bristol City Ross Flitney is expected to favour Scott Tynan for the Bees no 1 jersey.
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Barnet travel to Field Mill to face bottom of the table Mansfield on Saturday as they look to win their first league match since August.
Mansfield Town vs Barnet Saturday 22 October 2005 Coca Cola League Two Field Mill, Kick off :- 3pm After victory in their mid-week LDV Vans match against familiar opponents Bristol City, Paul Fairclough will be hoping that his team can transfer their winning form to the league campaign, where they haven't registered a win since their clash with Macclesfield way back in August. The Bees' win-less streak now stands at a daunting ten league games and Saturday's match with Mansfield has already been touted as a potential 'relegation six pointer' with the season only 14 games old. Both teams will be eager to seize the initiative and begin to climb back up the table but it may be Barnet who go into the game with the upper hand after they dumped yet another team from a higher division out of cup competition. Unfortunately for Mansfield supporters, the biggest talking point of the new campaign has been the acrimonious departure of former boss Carlton Palmer, who left the club in mid-September following a poor run of form. Since Palmer left, caretaker manager Peter Shirtliff has brought about a noticeable improvement in results but not in the side's consistency and they still occupy the bottom spot in League Two. Whilst they've enjoyed an emphatic 4-0 win league against Shrewsbury and a 1-0 victory against Harry Redknapp's Southampton in the Carling Cup, Shirtliff's side slipped to a disappointing 1-0 defeat at the hands of Conference side Hereford in Tuesday's LDV Northern Section First Round. Barnet and Mansfield have met each other no fewer than fourteen times in the old Third Division. The last meeting fell in February of 2001, when the Bees were humbled 4-1 at Field Mill in front of 1623 fans. Past meetings have also shown that there is no shortage of goals when the two teams take to the field. Take for example the 3-3 draw in August 2000 as well as the 5-0 humbling Barnet received back in 1998. This is a match with a lot riding on the result. Barnet will be buoyed by yet another scalp in cup competition and will be eager to end their barren run of form, whilst Mansfield will be looking to banish the demons of Tuesday's disappointing defeat before finding out if the enthusiastic Shirtliff will be handed the reigns on a permanent basis. Team News Barnet The Bees are still without long-term absentee Simon Clist who is still recovering from injury whilst Simon King and Ismail Yakubu are set to resume roles at the heart of the Barnet rear guard. Anthony Charles is available for selection once again following his dismissal against Chester and Dwane Lee may also be back in contention after being rested against Chester and Bristol City. Probable Line Up (4-4-2) :- Flitney Hendon Yakubu King Gross Soares Sinclair Lee Bailey Strevens Grazioli Subs :- Tynan (GK), Graham, Bowditch, Hatch, Charles Mansfield Town Peter Shirtliff has recently secured the loan signing of Manchester City's exciting 23 year-old midfielder Jonathan D'Laryea and he is likely to play some part in Saturday's game after City boss Stuart Pearce gave his blessing on an initial one month deal. Jason Talbot and Gavin Peers look likely to miss out through injury. Probable Line Up (5-3-2) :- Pressman Uhlenbeek Baptiste Hjelde Buxton Jellyman D'Laryea Dawson Rundle Brown Barker Subs :- Day, Coke, Lloyd, Littlejohn, Birchall |