Barnet winger Lee Cook felt the Bees had to beat Chester after title hopefuls Bristol Rovers and Grimsby Town both won on Friday night.

A 3-0 win over Chester, thanks to goals from John Akinde, Charlie MacDonald and Curtis Weston, sealed the points for the Bees on Saturday.

And as a result, Martin Allen’s side will be seven points clear of second-placed Macclesfield Town on Christmas Day - despite Macc's 5-1 victory at Alfreton Town.

Reflecting on the win, the former Fulham and Queens Park Rangers winger opined: “After Friday’s results as well, we felt we needed to win just to keep the pressure off us a little bit.

“So it was a big game for us and there was a little bit of pressure there but I felt we dealt with it well.”

The Blues began the stronger of the two sides, with Barnet unable to make their customary fast start, but Cook felt the Bees rode out the initial threat they were the better side.

“Today was a difficult one I thought because we have had a two-week break most of us where we have not played and it could have been a bit dodgy,” conceded Cook. “They are playing all right Chester at the minute.

“We were not fully firing from the start as we have been; we were a bit lackadaisical for the first 20 minutes. I think that game today is going to help us massively for the next four games over Christmas.

He added: “We just had to be patient really and that is what we did, once the game went on we got into the game more and created better chances.”

And the 32-year-old was full of praise for first goalscorer Akinde, who chalked up his 19th of a fruitful first season in Black and Amber.

Cook enthused: “He has gone through again and we are just confident in him that he is going to score and that helps us. He settled the nerves down when he got the goal.

“He could have easily missed, hit the keeper or gone to go round him and mucked it up, but he is in confident form. You can tell because that is why he is slotting them home. He might have missed them earlier in the season when things were not going so well, but the form he is in at the minute, you fancy him every time one-on-one.”

Captain MacDonald also scored his first goal since September following a lengthy injury lay-off and Cook insists there is a strong understanding between him and the forward.

“We like linking up me and him – in general play as well – we have got that understanding together,” noted Cook. “It was nice for him to get on the end of the cross. I knew he would be in there the second John put me in down the side.

“We did that a few times today; we got down the side of them but the final ball was not there. I am pleased for him, because hopefully now he can get a bit more confidence and get a few more goals.”

You can read Martin Allen’s thoughts on the win by clicking here.