With one point from their last 12, Fleetwood Town look to return to winning ways in order to stay in the mix for end of season honours.
By David MitchellWith one point from their last 12, Fleetwood Town look to return to winning ways in order to stay in the mix for end of season honours.
The visit of Exeter City to Highbury on Saturday provides the sternest of tests. Despite a 2-0 reversal at Bristol Rovers on Wednesday, the Grecians have won 11 times on the road this season and lie just three points from the automatic promotion places.
There have been encouraging signs from Town's training ground this week with the return of a number of injured players and manager Graham Alexander could have more options to work with. Steven Gillespie's hamstring will be assessed but Jamie McGuire is definitely out, serving the last of his three match suspension. The recent blip has left Town six points from the play-off positions, a situation that Alexander is anxious to put right:
'Three weeks ago we were a match for anyone. We were hard to beat, playing good stuff and scoring goals. We need to return to that. We were fourth and looking at automatic promotion before dropping off.
Things can change quickly and there's no reason why we can't get back. We are concentrating on our points total and the gap we need to make up rather than our specific position. That gap is currently too big for comfort and we have to put it right, starting on Saturday.'
'The match against Exeter has double significance in that we could take three points as well as take three off one of our rivals. They've done fantastically well away but we will concentrate on our own game plan first and foremost.'
'We looked at the Wycombe DVD with the players and saw things we can put right. I picked a side that I thought could win the game last Saturday and those left out have worked hard to get back. It's good to
have competition throughout the side.'
The Grecians make their first Highbury visit lying 6th in the league and their impressive away record contains the most goals in the npower League 2. In Jamie Cureton they have the division's second highest goal scorer. The veteran striker has set his sights on his season's best tally of 31 for Reading in 2000-01.
Manager, Paul Tidsdale, recognised that his side were below-par against improving Bristol Rovers. He is wary that his side's remaining games feature opposition with something to play for and that the promotion race will be close to call, as he told the Exeter Express and Echo:
'We have got ten games to go and we still could see a club slipping away or one or two others jumping up. In terms of predictions and how that top eight or nine will develop, it is hard to pick. Fleetwood play with an attacking style and I don't see them changing that too much. I think we will play the same way. I think we're not quite at the point where teams are going to change their style. At three or four games left it might be different.'
There are no fresh injury worries for Tidsdale but midfielder Mark Molesley misses out as he serves the final game of his three-match ban.