Lawrie Sanchez believes Barnet were mugged in their 1-0 defeat against Torquay United, a result which leaves the Bees just three points above the League Two drop zone.

The Gulls claimed the win as Danny Stevens deftly chipped Dean Brill early into the second period.

However, the scoreline doesn’t do Barnet justice as Sanchez’s men restricted second place Torquay to just two shots on target whilst having a host of opportunities of their own.

When asked how he felt about the loss Sanchez replied: “Mugged is the word. And we have been mugged twice against them this season because we played well down at Torquay only to have a 93rd minute unbelievable goal get them the three points.

“But that’s why they are near the top of the table and it’s why we are where we are.”

He continued: “I think that was our best home performance of the season. I don’t think we have played as well over 90 minutes as that.

“But I have said to the team that we need to take the chances when we were on top and we had enough chances in the first half, plus a penalty which is a gimme.

“Then Sead injures his achilles in turning, falls down and the bloke has a free run on goal and lobs Brilly.

“I thought the goal was early enough for us to get back in the game. We huffed and puffed but didn’t create as many clear chances as we did in the first.

“They walk away with a clean sheet and three points and we are here having lost twice to a team second in the table and can’t believe we have lost those games.”

Torquay boss Martin Ling admitted it was a ‘smash and grab’ performance from his side but that was little consolation for a dejected Sanchez.

“At the end of the day what’s important is the amount of goals you score and we didn’t do that," said Sanchez. “We didn’t do that at Macclesfield and that means we got one point from two games we should have won.

“That would have given us five extra points and we probably would’ve been safe. But we are not, we are in a dogfight.

“We’re coming up against the likes of Cheltenham, Swindon and Crawley in the next three games. What we do need to do is to perform like that and cap it off with goals.”