Manager delighted Fleetwood sealed their second win in four days
After praising his side’s team spirit following a 2-1 victory over Cheltenham on Good Friday, Graham Alexander again hailed Fleetwood victory as a ‘fantastic achievement’ after ten-man Town secured a 1-0 victory over Wycombe Wanderers.
The Cod Army played the majority of the contest a man down after Alan Goodall was shown a straight red card for an off the ball altercation in the early stages of the first half.
Fleetwood, though, remained resilient and kept up their hunt for the Sky Bet League 2 automatic promotion places after Josh Morris scored his second winner in four days in the second half as Town secured maximum points over the Easter period.
Speaking to the club’s official website after the game, the Fleetwood manager said: “We heard that Rochdale were drawing before we came out, so it was important that we picked up three points.
“We went down to ten men after 12-13 minutes, but from then we were fantastic.
“The work rate, the discipline and the good football they showed when they got the ball down and to win 1-0 with ten men for 80 minutes is a fantastic achievement.
“They needed the points just as much as we did coming into the game and we knew what it was going to be like from the start.
“We go down to ten men and that changed the emphasis of the game, but we kept up right until the last eight or nine minutes because we wanted to go and win the game.
“We wanted to keep them back so we defended by attacking. It worked out like that, but I thought the work rate of the midfielder players was unbelievable today; the ground they covered was fantastic.”
With Morris scoring his second goal in two games, Alexander insisted that the Blackburn Rovers loanee has got a ‘bright future’ in football and praised the impact that the 22-year-old has had at Highbury.
“He was buoyed by his first-ever goal last week and he was really pleased by that, which turned out to be the winner, and he’s done it again this week.
“We know Josh’s quality on the ball, he’s great work ethic as well and keeps the ball very well.
“He’s got a bright future and he gives us a good balance on that left side of midfield and it was a fantastic strike.”
After lauding his squad’s efforts, Alexander also reserved sympathy for Goodall who’s suspension now means he will miss the final two games of the season.
Alexander admitted that he did not see the challenge and admitted the 32-year-old was ‘distraught’ following his dismissal.
“It was a challenge and I followed the line of the ball and then it got called back.
“The fourth (official) says it was after the ball had gone so I haven’t seen it myself.
“It’s disappointing because Goody’s done great for us since he came into that position in front of the centre halves.
“He’s really, really distraught in there for supposedly letting his team down, but the players have pulled him out of it by getting the three points.
“Goody is going to miss out through suspension now and it’s a shame because he has done great.”
All three teams directly above Fleetwood also secured victories on Monday – meaning Town remain three points off the automatic promotion places with two games left.
One of those is still against Chesterfield – on the last day of the season – and Alexander says his side are still right in the fight for automatic promotion.
“That’s the most we can do. We can only give ourselves the chance to take any opportunity that comes our way and that’s what we have done today,” Alexander added.
“We were aware of the Rochdale result before we went out there, but we just try and focus the boys on us.
“They have gone out and done that, they could have been disappointed about Rochdale winning and going town to ten men, but they put that to the side and went out won the game. It’s a great feeling today.”