Manager relishing home clash against the Tykes
Fleetwood Town manager Graham Alexander says Wednesday’s match versus Barnsley will be the perfect way to respond following last weekend's defeat to Crawley.A succession of missed chances meant The Cod Army had to leave Broadfield Stadium empty handed, but Alexander is confident the chances will soon turn to goals.
“We’re glad to get straight into it. We’re disappointed with the result on Saturday but I thought we were very good,” he said.
“If we look at the Crawley match we could have been two or three up at half time but we didn’t take our chances and we gave them a chance to hold on.
“Watching it back reinforced my belief of how well we played but we’re in the business of winning so we want to return to winning ways starting tomorrow against Barnsley.
“They’re a good team and have high hopes for the season. They’re a very big club and they’ll be hurting after their result on Saturday as well.”
Barnsley also suffered defeat at the weekend, 5-3 at home to MK Dons, but Alexander didn’t think that would have any bearing on how the game pans out.
“This will be the third team we face after they’ve suffered a heavy defeat and it can be difficult, usually there will be changes to the side so it’s difficult to read what they will do but we just have to concentrate on what we’re doing.
“It’s going to be a tough match but we need to make it tough for them. I think we’re in a good place, the lads know how well they played on Saturday but we just have to be a bit more ruthless with our attacking play.”
In the opposite dugout on Wednesday will be Danny Wilson, and Alexander was keen to praise the experienced manager.
“They’ve got good players and an excellent manager in Danny Wilson who knows the game inside-out, he said.
“He’ll be closing in on 1000 games now as manager. I sat with him at the LMA awards a few years ago and had a good chat with him, he’s a top bloke and I know plenty of players who have played under him.
"He’s a real football man and gets his teams playing good stuff.
Alexander was also full of praise for the Fleetwood supporters and felt having their backing is crucial if they are to have another good season.
“I think the atmosphere inside Highbury has been fantastic since the second half of last season when we went on a run towards the Play-Offs. It’s now overflown into this season and I was very pleased with the reaction of the fans after the 1-0 loss on Saturday, they knew the lads had played well and appreciated that.
“Fans want to see their players putting everything into it, and we have been so hopefully we can give them something to smile about with three points.”