Barnet manager Martin Allen has implored fans to blame him for the Bees’ 4-2 defeat to Morecambe rather than his players.

Shaun Miller put Morecambe ahead after just 54 seconds and made it two from the penalty spot in the eighth minute before Alex Kenyon’s header gave the Shrimps a 3-0 lead.

Michael Gash scored either side of Cole Stockton’s fine finish to add some respectability to the score as Allen moved to defend his side at full time.

“It is down to me because I am the coach,” Allen told the club website. “I’m the one who puts it all into place, I’m the one who changed the formation to play a little differently today, and it just didn’t work.

“It is down to me and not the players – the whole squad has done me and the club proud. They’ve competed and run themselves into the ground week in week out.

“Today they weren’t as good as they have been, but don’t blame them blame me.”

Barnet are now mathematically safe from being relegated from League Two and remain 15th in the table after the defeat.

Allen has, however, targeted a strong finish to their first season back in the fourth tier of English football, and they will have to improve if they are to achieve his objective of reaching the mid-sixties for points.

Barnet’s slow start proved to be fatal as they struggled to fight back from their two goal deficit but Allen still claimed to have seen positives in the performance.

“There are always positives form our boys. They kept going right to the end,” Allen said.

“I think we were 4-1 down and had two chances cleared off the line. Young Matt Stevens has come on and nearly scored two – I’d say that was a great positive.”

An upbeat mood may have underpinned Allen’s post-match comments, but he still remains acutely aware of the need to constantly assess and challenge his squad.

He therefore accepted that changes to his starting line-up for the visit of play-off chasing Leyton Orient were inevitable. Allen said: “For me personally, I’ve got to make decisions soon, so these players are playing for their places and their futures.

“I can sit here today and learn, see if they’re up to it, and make sure they’re up for it.

“I am able to learn from the games, and sometimes these games help me make decisions. There will be some changes for next week, there’s no doubt about it.”