Barnet head coach Martin Allen says the Bees must re-discover their mojo after conceding they were below their best in this afternoon’s 3-1 loss at Grimsby Town.

The Bees looked to be on their way to banishing memories of the 4-1 defeat at Lincoln City a fortnight ago when John Akinde won and converted a sixth-minute penalty.

However a well-taken goal from the Mariners’ Ollie Palmer and a penalty from Lenell John-Lewis within nine minutes of Akinde's opener turned the tie in Grimsby’s favour before Jack Mackreth’s second-half effort sealed the win.

Defeat means the Bees now have a nervous wait to see if second-placed Bristol Rovers pick up anything from their visit to Woking this afternoon.

And Allen admitted his side had not reached the levels expected of them at Blundell Park. He said: "Taking the pressure off the players [is important]. They don’t become bad players overnight or a bad team overnight.

“We have seen through the season we can mix it. The self belief has perhaps been questioned but that is up to the staff and I to work together and get that mojo back and get our players back up onto top form.”

Allen added: “I won’t panic. It’s certainly not a panic. The more important thing is to look at our performances, talk to the players and listen to what the players have got to say. Obviously the players go over the white line and I am here to help them.”

The Bees boss refuted the idea his side had enjoyed too much of a break, with their last fixture being played 13 days ago, owing to the fact they were not in FA Trophy action last weekend.

He stated: “The break everybody has had has been absolutely spot on and we have got to do better than we did today, there is no doubt about it. In all these games where we go away to decent teams, everyone to a man has got to be on it. At the moment we are just a little bit below our best.”

David Hunt began at right-back, with Andy Yiadom pushed into a more advanced right-midfield role and Allen explained his thinking behind the switch: “I came here last week to watch them and they did not play with any wide players and [I wanted] Andy’s legs, energy and athleticism on the right – the same position he played for Paul Fairclough for England where he was man-of-the-match.

“I thought we needed extra running power and pace and Andy provided that very well. As the game went on we changed it to try and make something different happen. Then Curtis [Weston] had to come off with a head injury, so that messed that one up just before half.

“Potentially he (Curtis Weston) could have played in the second half but with a head injury, I thought it was best to veer on the side of safety; of Curtis’ health. He was kind of OK but after a couple of minutes I just thought it was best to take him off.”

You can read the match report from Barnet’s defeat in Cleethorpes by clicking here.