Barnet 'better equipped' for promotion, says Brennan

Brennan led barnet to eighth place in League Two in their first season back in the Football League. [Getty Images] Barnet manager Dean Brennan believes they are going into the new season "better equipped" to secure promotion to League One. The 2024-2025 National League champions fell two points short of the League Two play-offs in their first season back in the Football League. The Bees have since sold a number of key players, including winger Ryan Glover, midfielders Anthony Hartigan and Mark Shelton, and striker Callum Stead . Ten new players have come in to replace them, including defender Will Wright , and goalkeeper Taye Ashby-Hammond. Brennan told BBC Radio London: "We didn't want to lose a lot of our key players, but we have. They've gone up the food chain. Some have gone to bigger clubs in terms of finance. "We've looked to get two players for every position. We've got better strength in depth this year. We're better equipped because we know the level better now as we've been in it for just over a year. "Every summer we build a new team. We've had to press the reset button, but I think we've done good business. We're quite an athletic side, and dynamic". Brennan was brought in as director of football under former Leeds winger Harry Kewell in 2021, before replacing him when Kewell was sacked after seven matches. The club then reached the National League play-offs in 2023-2024 before winning the league the following season. Brennan is confident the fans support his ambitions to secure another promotion this campaign. "The fans know what I'm like. In the last four years I've got a 54% win rate as a manager, so we want to continue that. "We set a high bar, all the time. It's important we stay humble and keep our feet on the ground. We want to keep the momentum from the last two or three months of last season, when we were flying." The job Brennan has done at the Hive has been compared to Andy Woodman at Bromley, with Woodman taking the fellow London side from the National League to League One in three seasons. Brennan said: "What Bromley did last season and what Andy has done at that club is miracle stuff. It's very similar to what I've done here, bringing a lot of success in a short space of time, without spending lots of money. So it can be done. "We're one of the favourites for the division, but I think that comes down to data and stats. Financially, we're nowhere near it; we're in the bottom four. "The challenge for us is turning eighth place into second, third, or even the play-off positions. That's the next question for us. Can we answer that question?" All the latest Barnet news