At the end of every football season countless players up and down the country are told that they will not have their contract renewed.

It can leave them with a tough, but simple, choice. Persevere or give up.

The stakes are especially high when you’ve never played top-flight football or been paid tens of thousands of pounds a week to act as a financial buffer until things improve.

It was a decision new Barnet signing Harry Crawford had to make in the summer after being released from Southend United.

For him it was that tough but simple choice. To keep playing.

"Any player being let go is difficult but then it is how you react to that," the 21-year-old striker said.

"You can go one way or the other, you can be positive or you can feel sorry for yourself.

"The first six months after leaving Southend was important to me and I worked very hard.

"I joined Dartford and did well, as the rest of the team have done this season, and I looked to get back into the Football League and back into full-time football.

"I’ve managed to do that and hopefully I can take my chance here."

Crawford made his debut for the Bees as a 70th minute substitute in the 1-0 loss at Burton Albion on Saturday.

It was a result which meant Barnet remain 20th in League Two but Crawford feels he has joined a club with a bright future.

He said: "It is a club that is going forward and everything is very positive here. We have top class training facilities and when I spoke to the chairman and the manager they all want to take the club forward.

"So I feel that it is a club that will progress and hopefully we will move up in the table.

"With Edgar Davids being here as well, that was a big selling point for me. With all he has done in his career, playing in World Cups and European championships, I feel that I can learn from him.

"It is a fantastic club and I didn’t think twice about joining."

Crawford scored 12 goals in 24 appearances for Dartford in the Blue Square Bet Premier to help his former side to seventh in the table.

Only ten places separate the Darts and Barnet in the English football league pyramid but the striker feels the Bees are a better side than their position in League Two suggests.

He explained: "I have only been training with the players for a couple of days. The performance against Burton shows we have something here.

"The position we are in the table doesn’t really represent what we are about. "We will move up the table, I am confident about that. We have a big game on Friday against Bristol Rovers and we will go there confident of getting the three points."