Nicky Bailey and Shaun Batt are fit enough to start for Barnet against Morecambe on Saturday (kick-off 3pm) but Bira Dembele and Kevin Lisbie are not ready to return yet.

Bailey and Batt have been restricted to cameo appearances from the bench in the league so far this season but Martin Allen confirmed earlier in the week both are now in a position to potentially start for the first time.

“Nicky’s ready now,” said Allen on Monday. “On Thursday morning I’ll come back in having spoken to the coaches and looked at the DVD and looked at the players in training and then I’ll make my decisions at 8.30am on Thursday morning on who I feel will be best for the team.”

Turning to Batt, he added: “He needs our help because he’s had a lot of injuries. He is a player who excites. He will run with the ball and sometimes he hits the back of the net, sometimes he hits the back of the floodlights – we all know that.

“But he is conscientious, he cares and he is a good player. He thrives on confidence, support and backing. He’s a performer and it’s great now to have him back.”

The visit from Jim Bentley’s 13th-placed Shrimps will come too soon for centre-back Dembele and striker Lisbie, though, with the latter getting 60 minutes under his belt in the Bees’ 4-1 defeat at Staines Town in the Middlesex Senior Cup.

Assistant coach Gary Waddock told Bees Player: “Obviously he played midweek in the cup game at Staines and that will help his recovery. He’s getting closer to a return to the first team so he’s slowly getting there.

“He’s worked hard on the training ground and an added bonus was getting the minutes on Tuesday evening.”

He continued: “Stacky (Graham Stack) is continuing to work hard with Luigi Cerullo and Bira Dembele the same, but we’ve got to be careful, take our time with them and not push them back too quickly. They’re on the road to recovery.”

Morecambe, who come to The Hive off the back of five defeats from their last eight in League Two, are only without summer signing Peter Murphy who has not played since the opening day due to a blood clot.

The Bees boast the third best home record in League Two having been beaten just twice in front of their own fans.

And Waddock is hoping to build on that form after Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Luton Town.

He said: “It was a tough trip up to Luton Town, they’re a tough side but it’s always nice to play at The Hive in front of your home crowd and the home form has been decent for us so we need to maintain that if we can and even improve on that so we’re looking forward to being at home again.”