International defender hopes for maximum return
Northern Irish international defender Conor McLaughlin is hoping for a quick reaction from the Cod Army as they travel back across the Pennines to face Bradford City this weekend.Graham Alexander’s men are looking for the perfect response to Tuesday disappointment against Coventry City, with the Sky Blues hitting two late goals to seal a 2-0 victory at Highbury Stadium.
Town have already tasted success in Yorkshire in 2015 with victories at Sheffield United and Barnsley, Conor getting on the scoresheet against the latter.
Only one point separates Fleetwood and Bradford heading into the final furlong of the season and McLaughlin is more than upbeat ahead of the trip to West Yorkshire.
“It is going to be difficult,” said the 23-year-old full back. “Bradford are good at what they do as they beat us at home earlier this season.
It is well documented the surface at Valley Parade is quite difficult, but McLaughlin is confident that won’t affect the Cod Army’s performance.
“The surface on the training ground isn’t that great so we will be used to the surface a bit, but we’ll have to try and play as effective as we can. As long as we get a result, we’ll be happy.
“We’ve got a good defensive record in the league. We haven’t ran away with games though, and that isn’t through a will of trying, it just hasn’t really happened for us. But on the flip side, we haven’t been well beaten either, apart from the Chesterfield match due to the circumstances.”
Conor has recently received given the nod by Michael O’Neill and included in the Northern Ireland squad for their upcoming internationals against Scotland and Finland. This will mean the defender will miss next weekend’s meeting with Preston North End.
Speaking about his call up, Conor said: “At any minute you can be out of the squad so you have to keep working hard at all times. A couple of bad performances or if you are not playing for your club side on a regular basis, you can find yourself out of the squad. There is a lot of competition.
“I’ll keep working hard and play well when I get the chance.”