BARNET skipper Mark Hughes is so used to playing against Swindon he doesn’t even feel it has been necessary to do any homework on them.
The two sides meet for the fourth time this season tonight as they battle for three points that will be important for the respective teams for very different reasons.
Barnet are desperate to avoid dropping out of the Football League while Swindon are battling to secure promotion back to League One.
Town beat Barnet 4-0 at the County Ground earlier in the campaign, while they came out on top of a two-legged area final of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy with a 2-1 win on aggregate.
Barnet may not have beaten Swindon yet this season, but Hughes sees no reason why they cannot get a result at Underhill tonight.
“They are an excellent side but this is our fourth time playing them this year so we know them inside-out,” he said.
“Because of that we don’t really need to do much homework on them; it’s just about building on our last two performances.
“If we do that then I’m sure we’ll get something from the game, which would be a real boost for us going into the two games over the Easter weekend.”
While Swindon have been formidable on home soil this year, their recent away form will undoubtedly give Barnet hope.
Paolo Di Canio’s side have lost their last three games on the road, and Hughes insisted he and his teammates will head onto the pitch tonight without any fear of their opponents.
“The gaffer has said from day one that he doesn’t fear any of the top sides in the league and that has been in our heads throughout the season,” he added.
“We’re desperate for points and will be fighting with everything we have.
“Swindon have hopefully got a bit of respect for us from the times we’ve played them already this season, and they will probably know that our league position isn’t really a true reflection of how we play.
“We’ve shown in our games against them this season that we are a decent side. They beat us in the area-final by one goal over the two legs but both games were very close.”
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