HOPES are high at Underhill despite Barnet being in the drop-zone as they gear up for the Oxford Utd game.

An club insider told Times Series Sport: “We go there this weekend in an optimistic mood after two good recent performances against Northampton and League One Charlton in the FA Cup.

“Many of our performances in games have merited than they got in the end.”

He added that the club has targeted wins in upcoming games so that it can begin the new year outside of the relegation zone.

Top Barnet scorer Steven Kabba is expected to play against Oxford.

He will be looking to follow up his brace against Northampton to put him on a total of four goals in the campaign.

The Bees will be keen to banish memories of a narrow 2-1 defeat to Gillingham last week, that has left them inside the League Two relegation zone again.

The Bees even took the lead in the game at Underhill through Kevin Gallen’s strike, with 31 minutes on the clock.

But the Gills came back after the break and Stimson saw his old club score twice to leave Underhill with maximum points.