Fleetwood Town

Fleetwood Town have guaranteed themselves obvious attention on Sky Sports ‘Soccer AM’ this weekend as presenter Helen Chamberlain’s beloved Torquay United visit Highbury for Town’s historic first game

By David MitchellFleetwood Town have guaranteed themselves obvious attention on Sky Sports ‘Soccer AM’ this weekend as presenter Helen Chamberlain’s beloved Torquay United visit Highbury for Town’s historic first game in the npower League 2.  By the time the show starts the faithful United fans will have already left home on a 600 mile round trip. Gulls manager, Martin Ling, has set his sights on a top three finish after reaching the play-offs in the last two seasons but Micky Mellon’s team will come into the game full of confidence from their performance against Nottingham Forest in the Capital One Cup on Monday evening. Mellon declared that his team ‘did themselves proud’.  A Highbury old boy, Jamie Vardy, scored Leicester City’s fourth and final goal as the Foxes ran riot at Plainmoor in the same competition twenty-four hours later.  Ling described the defeat as a ‘reality check’. Mellon is in no doubt, however, that the quality of the opposition will give his side a tough test on day one: ‘It’s a great first match against last season’s play-off contenders and will be a good measure of where we are as a team.  Pre-season has gone well, we’ve brought some very good footballers into the club, I’m happy with fitness and delighted with progress.’ Town came through the Forest game without any injury worries and Mellon has just long-term casualty Anthony Barry ruled out of contention for Saturday’s game.  Town’s goalkeeper, Chris Maxwell, returns from duty with Wales Under 21s, as does Torquay’s Billy Bodin. United had three players unavailable out wide against Leicester but will have stronger options for Saturday with Bodin back and Lloyd Macklin recovering from a knee problem. Ling’s remaining concerns are midfielder Danny Stevens (thigh) and winger Saul Halpin (ankle). Town start the season as second favourites for promotion with the bookmakers, behind Rotherham United, but Mellon refuses to get carried away: ‘We try and beat Torquay United and concentrate fully on that, then we move on to the next game.’  The ticket office is open Friday 9am to 5pm and Saturday 9am until kick-off. The last few hospitality places are available in the Parkside Suite. Please call Dave on 01253 775080.