Graham Stack believes it would have been a different story had Barnet taken their chances against Wycombe Wanderers, but feels the Bees can take heart from their performance in a 3-1 defeat.

John Akinde handed Martin Allen’s men the lead after just two minutes and the Bees had the Football League side on the back foot before Paul Hayes equalised from the penalty spot following a contentious decision.

Sam Togwell was then given his marching orders – despite winning the ball – and after the break, Wanderers took full advantage of their numerical advantage to score through Aaron Pierre and Sam Wood.

Andy Yiadom became the second Barnet player to be sent off; when in the 90th minute he was also given a straight red for a challenge on Josh Scowen as the Chairboys advanced to round two of the cup.

The Bees had enjoyed more possession and created the better opportunities after going ahead, with Curtis Weston and Luisma Villa both seeing gilt-edged chances go to waste.

“There are not many times who can live with us when we start well, as Wycombe struggled with today, they just could not get to grips with us; we could have been out of sight,” rued Stack.

“Had we taken our chances it would have been a different story, but we have got to take belief from that. They are top of League Two and flying high. For us to have dominated the way we did in the first half was a credit to everyone, all the players, absolutely everyone.”

The gloveman added: “We played them in pre-season and I thought we were the better team in pre-season. We have got better and, in fairness, they have improved since we played them in pre-season. It is very hard to judge, but we have come a long way and we will keep improving.

“We have added one or two to the squad and Charlie Mac (MacDonald) is now back and fit, so we are looking stronger. We are full of belief at the minute, full of confidence and why not? We are top of the league, we are playing well and at this moment in time, I don’t think there are many teams that are going to want to play us.”

You can read Martin Allen’s reaction from the Bees’ FA Cup exit by clicking here.