Steve happy to see 'Mad Dog' back in the dugout after he avoided minor heart surgery this week.

Crewe Alexandra boss Steve Davis is delighted that Martin Allen has avoided minor heart surgery to be in the opposite dugout this weekend. The Barnet boss was expected to miss this weekend’s fixture at the Hive Stadium after undergoing an operation, but a doctor has now excused him from having surgery and the appearance of the ‘passionate’ Allen will certainly give the Bees a lift.

Steve has told crewealex.net that he is looking forward to meeting up with the experienced boss in London this weekend.

The Alex boss told the club’s official web-site: “Martin has had a lot of spells at Barnet. He likes the place and the place seems to like him. He is a passionate man and he spends most of his time on the pitch than he does in the technical area. That is because he wants to be out there with them and it shows how much he cares.

“He is a man motivator and he has the ability to get into the mind-set of his players. He has gone into struggling clubs and turned things around very quickly by being able to do that.

“We all try and get the best out of the group of players we have and rest assured his Barnet players will be giving everything they have got tomorrow.

“They play good football. They are not route one and play when they can. They have good footballers.

He added: “Martin is a great character and the game needs characters like him. It probably hasn’t done his heart much good, but I just hope is okay. That’s the main thing and I look forward to seeing him. It will be nice to have a catch-up this weekend because we have come across each other a few times.”