The Pools Panel are an august body that sit every Saturday ready to give their prediction as to the outcome of matches should a number of fixtures be postponed or abandoned in order that the Football Pools has a complete set of “results” to pay out on.

Should they examine Barnet’s fixture with Hyde this weekend they might take into account the drubbing Forest Green Rovers inflicted on our visitors on the opening day of the season and the fact that they are currently in the bottom four of the Skrill Premier.

No doubt when Barnet were at the wrong end of League 2 last season they would have thought it unlikely in the extreme that the Bees would go to table-topping Gillingham and deservedly come away with three points. But that is exactly what happened.

And did Barnet show any complacency against Nuneaton Town last week? Playing sleek football Barnet glided nonchalantly into the lead and surely three points were there for the taking.

But Nuneaton took the rare chance that comes every team’s way and after a strong second half performance they were deserving of their point.

After every match this season there has been much to admire about Barnet’s performance in each of these fixtures. Yet at the same time there remains a nagging feeling that the Bees haven’t quite got in together in all departments for the duration of an entire match.

I’m taking all this as a positive sign, because a cursory look at the league table indicates much more is going right than wrong and a constant striving to improve from the levels you are currently reaching must be beneficial in the long term.

We certainly cannot afford to under-estimate any team in this league. In our opponent’s dressing room before the kick-off they will be urging each other on and by the time the game starts they will have a strong feeling of unity and belief that today they are going to turn Barnet over.

But in turn, let’s face it, we have a good team and our players are confident in their ability too. It’s simply a question of how much of that ability and determination to succeed, especially if events conspire against you, can you bring to the game in question. And as always at 3 o’clock on most Saturdays we begin to find out.