Martin Allen has vowed Barnet “will fight to the end” in their bid to stay in the Football League after making a dramatic return to The Hive.

The 52-year-old has been appointed manager for the fifth time after chairman Tony Kleanthous admitted he “had to go for one last throw of the dice”, sacking Graham Westley with the Bees seven points adrift of safety at the bottom of League Two with eight games remaining.

Allen has wasted no time in making changes following his return, cutting the squad to 20 players with Jordan Nicholson and Simeon Akinola made available for loan, while Tin Plavotic has returned to Bristol City.

Dan Sweeney is the Bees’ new captain in place of Curtis Weston, while alterations have also been made to the club’s backroom staff.

Allen has brought in Adrian Whitbread, who previously worked with him in his first spell at the club as well as Brentford, MK Dons and Leicester City, as assistant coach.

The ‘new’ manager confirmed he had spoken to Rossi Eames about a first-time coaching role, but the man who was at the Bees’ helm at the start of the season had opted to remain with the youth team.

Michael Nelson, who was Westley’s assistant, is now player-coach with Allen explaining: “Michael Nelson’s still a good footballer and we need Michael Nelson involved in our 18. He knows how to win games, he knows how to teach teams and coach players around him. He will be instrumental in helping us win games.”

Allen’s attempt at the great escape begins with a tough trip to Luton Town on Saturday (kick-off 5.15pm) and in a message to Bees fans on the club’s website, he said: “We need you back to support the players, support the team and get behind them and give those players a boost because they do need a boost. It’s your club and you can’t just let it fritter away. The chairman’s been proactive doing what he’s doing.

“The only guarantee that we can give you is you’re going to have a team that is going to be competitive, you’re going to have a team that will fight right to the end.

“If you pay your money to come and watch Barnet you know you’re going to be getting a proper performance and everybody’s going to be giving everything to get as many points as we can.”