Scrappy victories are going to be as key as the pretty ones for Barnet this season, Darren Currie said after Saturday’s 2-1 over Hartlepool United.

Currie felt the Bees could have played better in the success but was delighted to come out with the points after goals from debutant Paul McCallum and Simeon Akinola.

The result means Barnet stay in sight of the National League play-off spots while maintaining their unbeaten start to 2020, and the boss feels that victories such as this one are going to be vital to bridging the remaining gap to the play-off positions.

After Saturday’s win, he told the club website: “We’re at the business end of the season where three points is the most important thing. I think we could have played better, I don’t dispute that, but again we’ve had to scrap it out today.

“Those type of victories are going to be just as important as the pretty ones where we play some really nice football. That’s where we are at the moment in the season but credit to the boys, I thought the work ethic and the togetherness was brilliant out there today.

“We tried to pass it on a difficult pitch. It’s gone from boggy to bobbly and lively today. Although I thought the actual play between the two boxes was fairly even, I thought we were the ones looking most likely to score goals.”

The deadlock was broken in the 64th minute by debutant McCallum, just a day after signing on loan from Solihull Moors and only two minutes after entering the game as a substitute for Josh Walker.

Currie had already spoken of his delight at the lengthy pursuit of McCallum paying off when the striker arrived on Friday for the rest of the season, and the former Portsmouth, West Ham United and Leyton Orient striker backed that up with a quick goal in his first game.

Currie said: “I planned all that! It’s nice that he’s scored, it’s what he does, his statistics up until yesterday over the last two seasons were 39 in 59, so he certainly knows how to score goals.

“I think the other things that I liked about his play today were his assist, a wonderful technique, a sort of sliding half-volley right into Simeon’s path, which is a great ball in. And then the fact that he’s a big beast up there that centre-halves don’t enjoy playing against because he’s physical, he’s aggressive and he’s good in the air.

“That’s all on the back of coming down yesterday afternoon, not training with the lads. The first time he met them was in the changing room so it’s the perfect start for him.”

The win also extended Barnet’s unbeaten run to 11 games, with the last time the Bees recorded a run similar back in 1999. Currie, coincidentally, played in all 11 of those games, and while he is happy with the current form, he insists that the side will be taking it one game at a time.

He said: “We’ve got to keep it going, we’re not getting carried away. It’s one game, it’s three points and it’s another good day for us, but we’ve got to rest up as we’ve got some Saturday-Tuesdays coming up over the next few weeks. It’s just another little step in the right direction.”