Darren Currie praised Barnet’s solidity in defence after his side came away with a 3-1 win at fellow play-off chasers Woking.

The back four of Cheye Alexander, Ricardo Santos, Dan Sweeney and Elliott Johnson held firm under pressure for the majority of the game, only being breached by a late Jack Cook effort.

However, given some of the shaky defensive performances of late, Currie was delighted with how back four handled what was a tricky occasion.

He said: “We had to defend with quality and needed our men out there today. I thought Ricardo and Sweens [Sweeney] were absolutely gigantic for us tonight. And Cheye and Elliott, don’t get me wrong, but certainly the two big boys dealing with all the aerial balls, were absolutely awesome.

“As a team, we defended and worked our socks off. Some will say that is a minimum requirement – of course it is, but to be defensively as solid as we looked and then have that sort of devastation on the counter attack as well, I’m really pleased tonight.”

Another aspect of the win was “game-changing moments” according to the boss.

Vital blocks from Sweeney and Johnson in a period of Woking pressure were defensive examples, while both Paul McCallum and Josh Walker displayed it at the other end with their goals.

“Like goals, Loachy [Scott Loach] makes saves, they’re game-changing moments. Last-ditch tackles, putting your head on the line, they’re all things that we all have to do, then it’s up to the boys up front when they get their game-changing moments to make the difference,” Currie said.

“Macca [McCallum] got his reward then Josh Walker has come on and got two terrific goals as well, and maybe could have had another. The moments where we needed to stand up and be counted at both ends of the pitch, we stood up today.”

With the Bees now just a point off the play-offs with three games in hand on some of the teams around them, there is every belief that they can secure a spot at the end of the season, and the boss insists that he is going to need every member of his squad to achieve that.

“I’ve learnt very quickly as a manager that you have to disappoint people and leave people out. You can only pick 11. When Josh Walker comes on and scores two goals like that it’s two fingers up at me for not picking him, and I love all that, it’s what it needs.

“Charlee Adams as well. I’ve left him out having played really well against Boreham Wood. He doesn’t want to look me in the eye because he’s probably hating me at the minute, but he came on for five minutes at the end, put his body on the line and played the ball that got the third goal.

“All I keep saying to them is that I need everyone. There’s going to be disappointment if you’re not in the team along the way, but I’ve got a lot of people that want to play every week.”