Chester FC have no fears about taking on Vanarama Conference leaders Barnet this weekend, insists manager Steve Burr .
Back on August 9, the Bees ripped the Blues to shreds in the first game of the 2014-15 season, inflicting a brutal 5-0 beating on them .
It was painful to watch and had some fans writing the squad put together in the summer off as no hopers.
Since then, the North London club have continued to impress and are seven points clear at the top of the table, although an understrength Bees crashed out of the FA Trophy midweek with a 6-2 hammering at home to Concord Rangers.
Chester have done remarkably well to recover from that massacre on the opening afternoon and Burr thinks his players can demonstrate how far they have come at The Hive on Saturday (3pm).
Burr said: "I just think they'll see a different Chester this time.
"We know the type of sides they've put out for the FA Trophy and we know their main priority obviously is to get back into the Football League.
"I just want to go down there and show Barnet that wasn't us. We've come on a long way since we played them in the first game of the season.
"Looking back at that game, there were certain circumstances around it that led to the scoreline being what it was.
"We'll be looking to show them that we are better than that and I think they'll see that."
With the Bees well placed for a return to the Football League and out of the FA Cup, Allen has given his main squad two weeks rest.
Five youth teamers were given a taste of senior football over the two games with Concord but will step aside this weekend for the first of five games against teams in the lower half of the table.
John Akinde, the league’s top scorer with 16 goals, gave the Blues defence a torrid time back in August and has an excellent supporting cast including the likes of Lee Cook, Luisma Villa and Curtis Weston.
Barnet have a strong record against sides in the bottom half with just one defeat, although the Bees have lost two of their last six in the league and have been beaten three times at The Hive.
Allen said: “I don’t think anybody can deny that the next three weeks are very important for our football club. We need all of our players fit and available and ready.
“We are all now fully fit apart from Jon Nurse who has got a strained medial ligament, so he’ll be out probably for another six or seven weeks which, after his performance at Torquay, is disappointing.
“We trained on Tuesday morning with a blue sky. It was the first time that I have seen those players for a week because they have all had a break.
“They were all together, all well, all bright and sharp, and you can see that they are all well aware of the importance of the next month in this 10-month competition that we are in.”
Chester will have new signing Kane Richards in the squad but Rhys Oates has been recalled to Barnsley, who eliminated the Blues from the FA Cup on Tuesday with a comfortable 3-0 second round replay win .
Peter Winn (knee) came off the bench in that game after six weeks out midweek but Josh O'Keefe (foot) seems unlikely to feature again before the end of his loan spell from Kidderminster Harriers.
Richards has scored 12 goals for Ilkeston in the Evo-Stik League Premier Division and the 20-year-old trained with the squad on Thursday after agreeing an 18-month deal.
Watch: A selection of Kane Richards' goals for Ilkeston
Burr said: "Kane's a striker that I kept an eye on all last season and he's somebody that I enquired about in the summer but for one or two reasons we couldn't do anything
"We're fortunate to have been able to get him in at this stage of the season because obviously the transfer window's shut but with him being non-contract we've been able to get him in.
"He fits into everything with where we are as a club at the minute regarding the wage structure, he's hungry to do well and I'm looking forward to seeing how he can step up
"We'll help him as much as we can and he'll decided his own destination by how good he is on the park.
"Barnet are probably the best side in this division but we've got no fears going there because we've already shown we can compete with good teams
"We have played some good football this season so we have got no fear but the thing with us is that we need everybody from one to 11 that is on the pitch to produce an eight out of 10 for us.
"We're not a squad at the minute or a side that can carry players but the pleasing thing from my point of view is the improvement that we've seen as we've gone on."
