Pre-season is all but complete. Barnet's Football League return gets underway in six days' time at Leyton Orient. Martin Allen says his players are ready and has in fact been holding them back for a fortnight.

So what is left in the Bees boss' in-tray ahead of the big kick off at Brisbane Road?

1. Find a new backup goalkeeper: The most pressing issue for Allen has to be finding an able deputy to Graham Stack - Operation Stack, if you will.

Former Liverpool and Newport County stopper Jamie Stephens was the latest man to audition for the job, keeping a clean sheet in the 2-0 win at Eastleigh. He would probably have wanted more to do, though, after being restricted to just a couple of routine stops in 90 minutes.

Ashlee Jones had appeared to be the most likely candidate after two solid showings against Peterborough United and MK Dons. But the dreadlocked gloveman was conspicuous by his absence in Hampshire, even though Allen said afterwards he was "still allowed" to train with the team. Whether he is or not is another matter all together. And what of Dan Lincoln? The former Reading man has not been seen since keeping a clean sheet in the turgid affair at Maidenhead United.

Chris Haigh is another interesting layer to the whole situation. The 18-year-old has been with the Bees from the start of pre-season - the only keeper to do so - and will likely play some part in Monday's final friendly tussle at Southern League Northwood, which will be a game for the development side rather than first team.

Certainly it is far from ideal to not have a recognised deputy between the sticks with less than a week until the season gets underway and the issue is only highlighted by Graham Stack's ongoing absence as a precautionary measure. Albeit Allen has been at pains to point out the goalkeeper's lack of pre-season involvement has been that, a precaution, than a real cause for concern.

2. Decide his best centre-back pairing: In Bondz N'Gala, Michael Nelson and Bira Dembele Allen has three excellent defenders. He also has a big conundrum. The trio have swapped in and out through pre-season and all looked comfortable alongside one another. Now the question is who will start alongside who in the first-choice partnership?

Surely former Stevenage skipper Dembele has not come to The Hive to sit on the bench. The Frenchman is the only left footer of the three and the one most comfortable mopping up. Nelson and N'Gala, on the other hand, are both conventional stoppers who will go and attack the ball with great gusto. On that basis it would appear to be Dembele plus one.

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What is certain is Nelson, who demonstrated during half-time of Saturday's win at Eastleigh his professionalism by going through an exhaustive variety of stretches as the rest of the substitutes casually knocked a ball about, will not play Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday. Clearly in good shape for his 35 years, the 'Admiral' will be managed through the season a la Kevin Lisbie.

That leaves the door open for N'Gala, who hardly put a foot wrong last season alongside David Stephens. It's a good headache to have, though, and a new one after so clearly favouring the Stephens-N'Gala axis last term.

3. Finding a playmaker: For my part, I have been impressed with all Barnet's summer signings on paper. They have plugged gaps which were evident and arrive with decent pedigree, mostly impressing through pre-season.

But one area which needs addressing is the lack of an out-and-out playmaker in the squad.

Lee Cook, Luisma Villa and Charlie MacDonald have all departed this summer and between them accounted for a large number of the Bees' assists last season. Conor Clifford, in his short stay, also provided a creative spark.

The hope is Ben Tomlinson will go some way towards filling that void but the former Lincoln City attacker can't do it on his own either. We saw what he is capable of in that defence-splitting pass for John Akinde's hat-trick goal against MK Dons a fortnight ago.

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Whether or not Andy Yiadom thrives down the right-hand side of midfield remains to be seen and the athletic right-sider will always be a tireless runner. But the pressure is now on to deliver assists too.

Another name well worth a mention is Fumnaya Shomotun. The youngster was one of the stars of pre-season early on and Allen admitted earlier in the summer his regret at not wrapping up the title sooner last term in order to afford the current crop of talented teenagers some exposure once the pressure was off. With a newly-formed development team in place, perhaps we will see the impetuous string-puller this time around?

4. What to do with Matt Stevens: Still only 17 - a fact which is oft forgotten - the former Reading prospect netted an incredible 57 times for the Under-18s last term. The expectation from many supporters is he will now step up to become a regular part of the first team but he is only entering the second year of his scholarship at The Hive.

Allen has indicated Stevens will play some part this season but whether or not the occasional cameo off the bench is as good for the striker's development as regular matches out on loan is a point worth consideration. The perceived wisdom is Under-18s and Under-21s football is only any good up to a point for advancing players as the outcome of matches matter little. With that in mind, Stevens may be best served moving out on loan to get regular men's football.

There is little doubt he has something but having earned his stripes with the youth team he now needs to mature and grow into the requirements of first-team football. Having seen him action for the Under-18s and first team on a handful of occasions the step-up in class between the two levels is evident and so are his shortcomings. That is not a criticism, but at his age he is still developing tactically and physically and getting a handful of minutes here and there will not aid either.

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5. Find a way to crowbar Mauro Vilhete into the side: The hero of that final-day win over Gateshead is a victim of his versatility. There is no doubt about it. Vilhete is an excellent right winger. The trouble is he is also a fantastic left winger. And, yes, you guessed it, he's also a marvellous full-back.

After a game last season I recall Allen responding to an observation about the Portuguese by simply stating: "Mauro is f****** dynamite. And you can print that." There is no doubt the head coach rates the workaholic, versatile, down-to-earth wideman highly and for all those reasons among others.

But the question remains, where does he fit in? Because he needs to. Versatility in itself is no bad thing, especially as Allen wants a squad of 19 this season, but with Yiadom having the right-wing stitched up, Vilhete will have to go head-to-head with Tomlinson for the left-hand flank. I wouldn't back against him not emerging on top over the course of the season.