Despite a combative, energetic display, Ben Davies wore a frustrated expression when I caught up with him in the tunnel, twenty minutes after last night's 2-2 draw with Barnet.

Davies curled home an exceptional free-kick to take his tally for the season to eight, and put Town right back into the game after turning round a two goal deficit, in around the time it takes to boil an egg. He wasn't a happy bunny though.

"It's two points dropped," he said. "We got off to a horrendous start again, and when you give teams in this league a two goal start it's really difficult to get anything out of the game. We did get back into it by half-time, but should have gone on to win from there really. We should have pushed on but didn't play particularly well second half."

Manager Paul Simpson was bold during the interval and made a dual switch, with the skipper conceding that the change was necessary as Simmo had been less than impressed with the performance throughout.

"He wasn't happy and you can't blame him - none of us were. We want to get out of this division. We want to win it, and no disrespect, but you have to be looking to beat teams like Barnet at home if you want to do that. Every time we don't win here it's really disappointing for the players, but we've just got to dust ourselves and push from here."

Paul Fairclough's men had served their intent with a whirlwind start, in which they forced a number of dangerous situations, so had Town literally been caught cold?

"They started very well and were the better side in the first ten, fifteen minutes. They scored two good goals, which though disappointing from our point of view, you have to give them credit for. They always pass the ball well and aren't a bad side, but like I said we should be beating teams like them especially at home."

It was pleasing to see the return of midfielder Paul Murray, who completed the entire second half, following a lengthy injury lay-off stretching back to August.

"He's a good footballer Muzza, and it's good for everyone to have him back, not just playing but in the dressing room as well. That's one positive and obviously us scoring two goals is another one, but ultimately we've missed out on what we wanted, which was the three points," said Davies, who once again played the captain's role by covering every blade of grass, as well as converting another Beckham-esque free-kick to draw his team level. It's become his trademark following endless hours spent perfecting the technique, after normal sessions have ended on the training ground.

"When Holty's gone down there just after we scored, my eyes have lit up and even though it's difficult to get the ball up and down like that, especially with a big wall like what they had, I knew it was going in as soon as I hit it. The keepers made a decent tip-over in the second half as well, but maybe that was a bit central. I'm pleased that Holty's scored again but we've just got to move on quickly from the disappointment of only picking up a point."

Town have a decent record against teams occupying the top places in the division, but conversely seem to struggle against teams below half-way. That would puzzle most fans, but Davies insisted the preparation was meticulous and that each opponent is judged on merit.

"Teams come here and they see us as a big scalp because we've spent a bit of money, and they have a tendency to raise their game. We've got to be smart enough to deal with that though because we've got some good players here, and we should be capable of picking up better results. We're not happy as a group of players unless we're winning games, and like you said, we haven't been able to do that on a consistent basis which is something we obviously need to improve on. We've got a few problems to iron out, but we've still got seven or eight new players here, and it does take some time to gel. Once we get going we will be a force to be reckoned with, but considering we're still in a play-off position without getting anywhere near our level yet, we're not too badly placed."

Luton will be next to arrive at the Prostar, and the Town captain recognised that another tough fixture lay ahead.

"Every game's a tough game in this league," he said. "If you look at Morecambe, Accrington and Barnet, you'd say there's three wins straight away, but it doesn't always work like that. We just have to concentrate on our own strengths and if we play to our capabilities we'll beat most teams in this league."

There was just time to prompt Benji for a response to the FA Cup draw at the weekend, which paired Salop with a tricky away tie at Blyth Spartans who operate in Conference North.

"It's a tough one. We really wanted a home draw but it was always going to be away if you look at the draws we've had in the JPT so far. We're a football league club and if we go there and do it right, then we will win the game. It will be their Cup Final and I've been there before in the FA Cup with Chester. It's a horrible place to go to, but they're a decent side so I'm looking forward to it."