A familiar face returned to Fleetwood Town’s training this week as centre-back Rob Atkinson ended his loan period at Accrington Stanley:
By David MitchellA familiar face returned to Fleetwood Town’s training this week as centre-back Rob Atkinson ended his loan period at Accrington Stanley:
‘It’s good to be back among the lads again. I had a good couple of months at Accrington and played thirteen times but at the end of the day I’m contracted to Fleetwood and now looking forward to kicking on from here.’
Atkinson was signed at the start of the 2011-12 season and formed a promising partnership with skipper Steve McNulty before a broken ankle kept him sidelined. After fifteen consecutive starts until mid-October there were just two more off the bench and a frustrated Atkinson could only watch as his team marched to the Conference title:
‘It was a bad time to get the injury and I really didn’t feature after that. Macca and I formed a good partnership, as he has with Youl Mawéné this season, but injuries affect things so much and hopefully we can hit the ground running again and renew our partnership.
Mawéné’s broken bone in his foot has given Atkinson the chance to add to just one appearance so far, in the Johnstone Paint Trophy at Rochdale, so the former Grimsby player is keen to make up for lost time:
‘It’s like I’ve never been away. I’ve kept in touch with some of the lads and followed the action on the Football League highlights show so I’ve got a good understanding of how things have gone. Playing at Accrington kept me at the same standard and means that I come back match-fit so it has been a good experience. They wanted me to play in the FA Cup at AFC Fylde and Fleetwood allowed me which meant I couldn’t be involved against Aldershot but that’s football and I’m raring to go against Southend if selected.’
The next two games are against form teams, with the Southend fixture followed by a trip to leaders Gillingham, but Atkinson has recent experience to go on:
‘I played against Gillingham at Accrington only a couple of weeks ago. They are a good, direct side who will get in your face and obviously up there for a reason but we have enough quality to beat them. I got man of the match on the day so hope that’s a good omen!’
