After successive defeats, Fleetwood Town have an immediate chance to re-establish their credentials with Tuesday's home game against sixth-placed Cheltenham Town.
By David MitchellAfter successive defeats, Fleetwood Town have an immediate chance to re-establish their credentials with Tuesday's home game against sixth-placed Cheltenham Town.
Victory could take Town back into the play-offs with the two teams immediately above them both away and a recent Highbury record of three wins in the last 12 league games will be one that they are keen to improve on.
'Saturday was a massive disappointment,' said manager Graham Alexander, 'and now we have an ideal opportunity to get back to winning ways but we know that we have to improve on the Aldershot performance and be competitive. There has to be real quality in our play.'
Co-incidentally, this is Cheltenham's second visit to Lancashire in four days, following a 2-2 draw at struggling Accrington Stanley.
'We had a good chance to have Cheltenham watched at the weekend,' added Alexander,'and saw the threat from a side who are doing well so it will be a tough contest. There's still plenty to play for over the last 13 games and and any one of 8 or 9 sides will feel involved. There are a lot of ifs and buts to come yet.'
Town's treatment room continues to be busy and Alexander's selection will be further influenced by the three red cards received over the last two games. Goalkeeping coach, David Lucas, was an admirable deputy for Scott Davies at Aldershot but Town's number one is set to return after serving his suspension. Alan Goodall and Jamie McGuire, however, will be absent after Saturday's dismissals:
'We contemplated appealing the Goodall decision,' said Alexander,'but after thinking it through we decided against it. As for Jamie, he knows that he let himself down when raising his hands.'
The result at Accrington was Cheltenham's sixth draw in their last nine games and a total of 12 draws, including a 2-2 at home to Fleetwood in October, is the second highest total in the league.
Manager Mark Yates told the club's website:
'We've only lost one in the last nine but not won enough. We've got to keep picking up points, keep believing and keep working hard on the training ground. I'll pick a team that I know is capable of winning. I've got to work out how I am going to get that spark amongst the whole group. I 'm not going to give much away but I've got a cunning plan.'
'I think it's going to be a good test for both sides tomorrow. I've seen Fleetwood play a few times and they are a good side. They get the ball down and get it wide and we have to deal with that.'
The Robins are confident that midfielder Jermaine McGlashan will be fit despite leaving the field at Accrington. There have been six games since a clean sheet and with the promotion drive blunted by the frequency of draws Yates will be determined to push on and eradicate the disappointment of last year's play-off final defeat to Crewe.
