Utility man Mauro Vilhete has described being at the right end of the table as the best feeling after spending much of his Barnet career battling relegation.

The Lisbon-born winger-cum-full-back is the Bees' longest-serving player having made his debut in a 2-0 defeat at Grimsby Town in May 2010.

And since then, the 22-year-old has made 93 appearances for Barnet in all competitions, scoring six goals.

But after helping the Bees attempt to stave off relegation from League Two in his first four seasons at first-team level, the Portuguese is relishing being involved in a promotion battle for the first time after an eighth-placed finish last term.

He said: "It is the first time I have been up here (at the top of the table) in and around the first team throughout a whole season and it is a good feeling, the best feeling in fact, and I want more of that.

"Wherever I am, I just want to make sure we are up there rather than fighting down at the bottom, so we will see what happens."

Barnet's response to being knocked off top spot in the Conference has been to claim seven points from the next nine, including Saturday's 5-0 win over Welling United, and Vilhete insists belief never faltered during their rocky period.

He explained: "We could have won the game at FC Halifax Town on Tuesday. But we have done well by going away twice in the space of three days and picked up almost as many points as we could.

"I think we have always - even though some results have not gone our way - known how good we were and we always knew we would bounce. We have managed to do that and hopefully we can win all our games from now on."

The Bees went into Saturday's home tie with Welling knowing they had to win in order to re-claim top spot after Bristol Rovers beat Aldershot Town on Friday evening.

Rovers will travel to Macclesfield Town on Saturday in a 12.30pm kick-off but Vilhete insists nothing changes in the Barnet dressing room despite knowing their closest rivals' results prior to kick-off.

He mused: "No [it does not make a difference], not at all. I do not pay attention to what teams around us are doing; it is all down to us really.

"We know what position we are in, we want to stay in that position and it all comes down to our results so I don’t bother looking at other results until after the game to see if they have dropped a point or anything."

The 2014/15 campaign has been a good one personally for Vilhete. He has made the most league starts of any of his six seasons at the club (20) and played the most league minutes in that period too (1,791).

But he has still yet to nail down a position, playing at full-back or wide midfield at various times throughout the campaign. Does it bother him?

"Everyone always wants to play," stated Vilhete. "Especially when you are up at the top, you always want to be on the pitch helping the boys. The manager has got tough decisions to make. We have got to get on with what we are doing and help the team out.

"I would like to play in my position but if I am helping the team out I don’t literally care where he (Martin Allen) plays me. I will always be willing to help but it is nice to get a run out in my own position. Hopefully I am doing what is needed to be done for me to stay in that position."