Barnet boss Dean Brennan: It does not get much better than a last-minute winner

Barnet boss Dean Brennan praised his side’s character after Mark Shelton’s stoppage-time winner secured a 1-0 home victory over Tranmere.

Shelton’s late header beat goalkeeper Joe Murphy to earn successive home wins and leave the Bees five points behind the play-off positions.

“We always had character in this group, but these are testing times,” said Brennan.

“Tonight was windy and Tranmere made it difficult, but the message was to stay composed, build the pressure, and keep going.

“We didn’t really get on the front foot early. Tranmere put a lot of bodies on the line, and there was little space between the lines. At half-time we switched to a 4-3-3, created overloads, and were able to control the game better.

“Our keeper Cieran Slicker made some crucial saves and kept a clean sheet. Scoring at the death is a great way to win a football match and can’t get any better.”

Barnet have won four of their last five games, having previously won just one of 10 league matches between mid October and Boxing Day.

And Brennan is confident in his side’s chances of remaining in the play-off fight.

“We’ve always had that belief since pre-season,” he added.

“I speak to every player about where I want to take the club. This is about dreaming, and sometimes dreams come true if everyone sticks together and works for each other.”

The loss extended Tranmere’s run of defeats to four matches while they suffered a major injury blow as club captain Connor Jennings was carried off on a stretcher midway through the first half.

Tranmere midfielder Sam Finley spoke to the media after his side’s defeat and felt Rovers deserved more from their performance.

“It was a real shift from the team given recent results,” he said.

“The game plan was to hit on the counter and I thought we had a few decent chances. We nullified Barnet to very few opportunities – I can’t recall many clear-cut chances they had.

“They committed to wide areas and put crosses into the box, with a few flashes across goal, but as a whole we defended very well. It was a real shock to concede so late on.

“Given the form we were on, we weren’t going to come here and dominate. We spoke all week about being compact and resilient, and that’s a building block for us.

“The fans know how difficult it was tonight. We gave absolutely everything.”

On Jennings’ injury, Finley said: “I was right over him and for him to stay down wasn’t like him.

“He’s one of the best professionals I’ve worked with. Fingers crossed it’s not too serious.