History expects....

Barnet FC were formed a full 17 years before the mighty Charlton Athletic. For all that they played their first 100 years of football outside the professional leagues and have largely been yo-yo-ing in and out of the bottom division since the late 80's.

They are a genuinely small club who play in front of modest crowds on a pitch with a notorious slope. Good for them, but this is a club we should be looking to beat every time we play them. In fact that's just what we have done in two of the three first-team encounters, drawing the other match. All three of those games were cup matches, a 3-1 F A Cup won at the Valley in 1992 and a two-legged League Cup encounter in 1995 when we beat them 2-0 at the Valley after a 0-0 at Underhill.

I fully expect us to see them off again this evening as the magic of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy grips the Valley. We must play at least 6 of our current side which looks too strong for League One and they are without talismanic winger Albert Adomah, one of the two scorers against a Charlton XI in pre-season.

If I were Parky I would see this as the perfect opportunity to try the clamoured-for 4-4-2. We must rest five players and I'd be tempted to give Elliot, Youga, Spring, Shelvey and Burton the night off. That would mean we could play Randolph, Basey, Llera, Mambo (if we can?), Richardson, Holden, Bailey, Racon, Sam, McLeod and Tuna. Bailey and Racon are more of a risk in League One where both can be caught in possession but paired against lower league opposition there is less chance of that and both should get the extra yard to influence the game upfront. McLeod deserves a 90 and Tuna a start. It would be good to see what Holden offers us and Sam should provide plenty of threat and creativity from the right. The emphasis must be on attack and, hopefully, providing the loyal supporters who make the effort with plenty of goals.

Being a natural cynic, I have to wonder whether the ruling over starting with six of your players with the most appearances this season can be quickly reversed with early substitutions? I think Parky will have a go at this competition and can't see us doing that but perhaps it's a tactic some sides with larger squads might deploy.

A day of incessant drizzle promises to put a dampener on things so I will go with a 4000+ gate and a 3-1 victory for the club with the bigger history.