Bees Boss Darren Is Happy To Be Jim's Phone A Friend!

The Barnet manager has something his AFC Fylde counterpart Jim Bentley really wants - and it’s not a player.

It’s the knowledge of how to beat Sheffield United at Bramall Lane, and the Bees boss is happy to give him chapter and verse.

“He’s not called yet, but we’ll be having a beer after the game this weekend and I’ll tell him everything I know!” laughed Currie.

“I’m delighted for Fylde, they’re a good club and I have a lot of respect for them, and for Jim too. I know him well and we actually have mutual friends. To have such a big game so early on is great for him.

“It’s strange because I only just got the Barnet job on a caretaker basis and we pulled Sheffield United out. Jim’s just gone in at Fylde and he’s got a great tie - but they are Premier League now of course.

“Beating them was of course brilliant, a wonderful day for the club. But I think Sheffield were burned a little bit by what we did to them last season in the FA Cup.

“Chris Wilder isn’t likely to make the same mistakes I don’t think but I’m more than happy to give as much advice to Jim as he needs.”

The live BT Sport match on Saturday tea-time gives Currie the chance to do something rare this season - put two wins together back-to-back.

The Bees boss also wants to see the turnstiles busier and get the Hive rocking like it was last January in the FA Cup.

Just 776 turned out to see their last home game against Ebbsfleet United and those who didn’t come certainly missed out.

“All we can do is win matches - winning football brings fans out at any level of the game,” he said.

“I’m not totally sure why numbers are a little down lately. Maybe it’s because of the club’s recent EFL history, maybe it’s because we’re not at the top end - the hope is that we can keep winning, we did well in our last game and scored five against Ebbsfleet.

“Hopefully some that didn’t come last week will see the result and some of the goals we scored and come back on Saturday.

“I’ve tried as hard as I can to re-connect with club with the people and it’s difficult - we’ll not stop, the best way to get people through the gate is to produce a style of football that not only wins games, but one which supporters enjoy watching.

“The fans are there. Look how fantastic it was against Brentford last season with more than 6,000 there.

“If we have a solid Christmas period we can get ourselves into a good position in the New Year.”

As things stand Barnet are 15th - but just six points off the play-offs.

“We can be a good side,” he added. “I know I have the group of players here to achieve something but so far we’ve not consistently been good enough in both boxes.

“We have had plenty of chances but we have missed the clinical edge at times in games and that’s a real frustration.

“We should have had five or six more points than we’ve managed to take. Our season was summed up against Stockport County last month - should be 4-0 up at half-time, and they win it in the last minute.

“Missing chances has left us open at times but we put that right in our last home game. Now we need to build on that against Fylde, who are a very good side.

“Jim has come in and got them heading in the right direction. I’m not surprised he’s had an immediate impact so we’re expecting a very tough test.”