Manager speaks ahead of the trip to Meadow Lane
Graham Alexander wants his players to replicate the performances they have produced in the first two games of the season when they take on Notts County on Saturday at Meadow Lane.Fleetwood Town began life in Sky Bet League One with an impressive 2-1 victory over Crewe Alexandra before taking Championship side, Rotherham United, all the way in the Capital One Cup on Tuesday night.
The Cod Army were eventually undone by Matt Derbyshire’s penalty in the second period of extra time, but after remaining resilient during the early Rotherham pressure, Fleetwood put in a performance full of positives that meant their first round elimination was a bitter pill to swallow.
Reflecting back on Tuesday night’s game at his pre-match briefing, Alexander, the Fleetwood manager, said: “It was a poor decision that cost us the game, it definitely wasn’t a penalty and you may get ups and downs but it doesn’t make it any easier to swallow.
“The performance really pleased, especially after the first half an hour. After half time we really got at them and created chances ourselves, took the game to them, played some great football and we were hard to beat.
“We have to make sure we maintain that sort of commitment to our defensive game to make it hard for the opposition and play the kind of football which we know we can create chances with.”
This weekend, Fleetwood will make the shorter trip to Nottingham to face Shaun Derry’s Notts County who retained their third tier status last season by the narrowest of margins.
The Magpies are also familiar opponents for Town after they slipped to a 3-2 defeat at Meadow Lane in the Capital One Cup last season.
Since then, the Notts squad has undergone a significant overhaul, but Alexander believes his squad is better equipped this time around to go and get the victory on Saturday.
He added: “They’re a big club and unfortunately we didn’t get a result there last year, but we played well on the day and we look a better team to go and get the win.
“We want to continue the performances that we have shown in the last two games.
“I don’t think there will be an easy games this season, there wasn’t last season, so stepping up a level I don’t think anything is going to change.
“It’s a bit of a new team down there because of the overhaul of the squad over the summer and they will be looking to make their mark this season.
“So are we, though, and we have to make sure we go there and put in the sort of performance that we put in on Tuesday and last Saturday. If we do that, we then we know we will give anyone a very good game.”
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