Barnet boss Paul Fairclough has assured Bees fans that the club are "facing up" to the relegation battle they may find themselves in.A run of just seven points from a possible 30 has seen Fairclough's men slip to 18th place in League Two and he knows that they need to react with a win over Chester on Saturday.

He said: "The players have openly discussed their feelings about the stage of the season and the situation in which we find ourselves.

"By facing up to it I believe we can do something about it. I don't want us to be the boxer who did not see the knockout punch coming.

"So facing the reality of our situation now means we can modify our performance and avoid the punch, then start a counter attack.

"I know for a fact that on a good day we can - and have done - beat the better teams in our league. We have all seen the positive results when we peak and the negative performances when we do not."

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