BARNET player-manager Edgar Davids hopes his side can learn some lessons from the 4-1 defeat to MK Dons at the weekend.
After a goalless first half, Barnet took the lead with a curled effort from the edge of the area from transfer-listed striker Jake Hyde, his second goal in two games.
But Milton Keynes Dons made a raft of substitutions which included Barnet old-boy Izale McLeod who looped a header over Graham Stack minutes after coming on.
McLeod got his second of the game, before an own goal from Mauro Vilhete and a neat finish from Chelsea loanee Patrick Bamford rounded off the scoring.
Davids saw some positives in his side’s play and believes his side will take away a lot from their performance against The League One side.
“We played against a good side,” said Davids.
“They won against Real Vallecano and now we played against them and they played the same system and now we have to learn a lot.
“For a full hour we showed we could compete with them and we also managed to take the lead but then we saw in the last 15 minutes they went at a different pace.
“To play well for 70 minutes is not enough you have to play well until the last second.
“It shows you have to be sharp for the whole game till the last whistle and I think that was a very important lesson.
“Even though you’re tired, you have to keep your mental sharpness high.
“When we started everybody was fully concentrated but when you get tired that’s when you need to be focused the most and that’s a hard lesson “You have to be focused and sharp until the final whistle.
Some of the Bees players, who took part in Tuesday’s friendly against Hendon including Dominic Vose, Jamal Lowe and Tanashe Abrahams were not involved in the matchday squad.
But Davids insisted places in the side for the first match of the season against Chester FC are very much up for grabs still.
“You can’t play everybody,” said the 40-year-old.
“You have to make choices, then you have to rotate some of the guys who are fit and not fit.
“Everybody has to be fit and everybody has to play well.
“It’s important that everybody plays well because the best player plays. If you play well on Tuesday then you might start at the beginning of the season.”
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