Cod Army ended the campiagn in 19th position
Manager Steven Pressley congratulated his players for retaining their Sky Bet League One status as they beat Crewe Alexandra 2-0 at Highbury this afternoon.The win meant the Cod Army ended the campaign in 19th place after Shrewsbury were beaten against Swindon at the County Ground.
Bobby Grant and Devante Cole scored twice in quick succession midway through the first half, and it was a result that relegated local rivals Blackpool.
Pressley said: “I’m feeling drained right now. It’s not something in the future I want to celebrate. In my office there’s a picture of the previous manager celebrating promotion and these are the type of days I want to celebrate.
“But I must say a big congratulations to my players who showed enormous courage today. These are really difficult games. We talk about pressure games in the Play-Offs, but these are even bigger.
“I’m delighted for so many people at the Club; my staff, my players, the chairman who has put so much funds into this and obviously our supporters too.
“From a personal point of view I can now have a few days of sleeping in my bed because it’s probably been the worst couple of weeks I’ve experienced as a football manager. I knew the importance of today.
“We’ve built such an infrastructure at this football club to move forward in the future, so it was so vital we stayed in this division. This has to be a lesson to us but this can make us stronger.
“I’ve said before that we’ve got the nucleus of a very good squad. We certainly need to add players to that because there’s no doubt moving forward recruitment will be vital.
“I hope to get a really good pre-season under our belt. It’s vital and gives you the platform to move forward. One of things I am very conscious of is the elite levels of fitness for the players. I want us to be the fittest in the league.
“The most important thing was this football club today, there’s no doubt about that. I’m really proud of the players, staff, chairman and supporters.”