Tomorrow sees the opening of the new 2010/11 season and Barnet start the season with a trip to Chesterfield’s new b2net stadium. Barnet will have a new look side on display for the first match under new boss, mark Stimson with most of the side making their league debuts for the Bees. Only a handful of players remain from last season and of these, Jake Cole, Joe Devera and Daniel Leach or Clovis Kamdjo are likely to play tomorrow with as many as eight new players in the starting line up.
Barnet have a few injury concerns ahead of tomorrow’s match. New captain, Anwar Uddin, from Dagenham & Redbridge and striker, Ricky Holmes, signed from Chelmsford, could both miss tomorrow’s game, while Joe Devera has complained of felling unwell.
Manager, Mark Stimson could start with most of the side that began last Saturday’s friendly with Peterborough. That would mean playing with just one striker up front, Steve Kabba and a five man midfield of Rossi Jarvis, Mark Marshall, Glen Southam, Mark Byrne and Glenn Poole with Jarvis playing a bit deeper than Southam and Byrne in the centre and Marshall and Poole out on the flanks. Stimson would be able to call on players like Danny Kelly and Charlie Stimson if he wanted to play two up front.
At the back, with Devera and Uddin doubtful, Stimson is likely to play Sam Cox and Jordan Parkes at full back with Darren Dennehy and either Leach or Kamdjo, who signed a new 2 year contract with Barnet last week, coming in for Uddin. Obviously, Jake Cole would be in goal.
Chesterfield are likely to give debuts to former Brighton striker, Craig Davies who impressed on loan at Port Vale last season and loan players, Ian Morris, a midfield player from Scunthorpe and Peterborough left back, Scott Griffiths, a former team mate of Anwar Uddin’s at Dagenham. Striker, Jack Lester, who has been a thorn in Barnet’s side in recent seasons has a knee injury but is expected to be fit to play tomorrow. Lester did Barnet a favour last season scoring twice at Grimsby Town as Chesterfield snatched a 2-2 draw at Blundell Park late in the season. If Grimsby had won they would have gone into the last match of the season a point ahead of Barnet, a scenario that could have meant a very different ending from the one that occurred.
Opening matches of the season are hard to call as there is not really any form to go by. Tomorrow’s match is likely to be tricky and Barnet, already favourites for relegation this season, will be expected to lose, especially given Stimson’s away record with Gillingham last season.
Chesterfield were very erratic last season and it was difficult to predict their matches. Barnet have a side made up of mostly new faces and though there looked to be a certain cohesion in the side in the pre-season friendlies, it might take time for the side to gel once the matches become competitive. Barnet Mad are going for an optimistic, but realistic prediction of a 1-1 draw tomorrow. The season starts here!!