Summer signing Kevin Lisbie says the enthusiasm of Barnet boss Martin Allen has been welcome after a year out of favour at Leyton Orient.

The 36-year-old former Ipswich Town and Charlton Athletic hitman joined the Bees on a one-year deal following his release by the O’s earlier this summer.

It was a miserable final season at Brisbane Road for the former Jamaica international, who made just five League One starts as the east Londoners were relegated under four managers.

For Lisbie, that meant ending an instantly forgettable year on loan in League Two with Barnet’s rivals, Stevenage.

But after bringing his four-year stay in E10 to an end, Lisbie is simply pleased to be working under a manager who wants him at the club.

“He (Martin Allen) has been brilliant,” said Lisbie on Saturday. “The first conversation we had was really good and he wanted me down at the training ground the next day which was quite intense but really good for me because it showed that he really wanted me.

“It is good to be somewhere where the manager wants you and we have worked well together for these last four days.”

He continued: “It has been really good and I have enjoyed it. I was at Orient for four years so leaving there was a bit hard but as soon as I walked into this club I knew it was the right decision. The lads are brilliant and I can’t wait to get started.”

It is a relatively short hop from Leytonstone to Edgware for the veteran striker but Lisbie insists location was not a factor in his decision to join Allen’s Conference champions.

He explained: “No, [staying in London was] not really [that important].

“As soon as the manager called me [my decision was made]. I just wanted to get out and play football again.”

Lisbie’s arrival means there are just three players aged 30 or above at Barnet – Graham Stack and Sam Togwell being the others – and the onus is on Lisbie to lead by example as one of the senior heads at the club.

It is a role the Hackney-born goal-getter not only accepts, but relishes, to the point that on Saturday morning he stepped in for development coach Ross Eames to take training for the newly-formed development team.

“I did the same thing when I went in at Orient,” he recalled.

“When I went there I think the squad was younger than it is here and it is always important for the senior pros to do more than just their job, to be a senior voice on the pitch and around the training ground and that is what I have come in to do.”

As well as being the most experienced member of the squad, Lisbie is also one of an exclusive group who have played in League One. The Bees might not be looking beyond survival in League Two just yet but he is certain the gap can be bridged in the near future after his brief sojourn into the lowest rung of the professional ladder last season.

“I believe a team in League Two could easily survive and hold their own in League One, so I do not think there is much difference,” Lisbie said.

The striker added: “I think everyone knows what the target is – to win as many games as we can.”