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Interviews

Eastham on battling draw at Charlton

Defender reacts following first clean sheet of 2018 at The Valley

17 March 2018

Interviews

Eastham on battling draw at Charlton

Defender reacts following first clean sheet of 2018 at The Valley

17 March 2018

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Defender Ashley Eastham has given his thoughts after Fleetwood Town's resolute draw at Charlton on Saturday.

Eastham spoke after the match and was delighted with the point, and praised the whole team for their efforts on a snowy day in the capital city.

On the point at The Valley…

“I think it was a hard fought point in a game where we didn’t have as much of the ball or as much control as we’d have liked.

“Overall I don’t think we can argue that this is a tough place to come to, and to see the quality that they had going forwards.

“It was brilliant to get a clean sheet and good to get back to those. It is also another performance for us to build on going into the last ten games.

“We’ve done well since the new manager has come in and we now have to take all the positives into our next game."

On building the confidence with each game…

“The manager has built a bit of camaraderie with the team and a togetherness as we know the situation that we are in.

“We strongly believe we can get out of this and with performances like that today, we will definitely be in this league next season."

On the clean-sheet and defensive duties…

“I have always said that it’s not just the defenders who take credit for a clean-sheet, it’s the whole team.

“We haven’t had one for a while which isn’t like us last season, but for myself, Cian and the two full-backs today, we pride ourselves on keeping the door shut and that’s where the team can build on.

“Today we had a good shape as a team, and there were moments where they created space and things opened up, but we had to put our bodies on the line.

“We are fighting to stay in this league, so every single one of us will throw whatever it takes to do that.”

On the belief in and around the team…

“We believed we could have come here today and won the match.

“They [Charlton] are a possession based team and we knew we weren’t going to have much of the ball, however we weren’t too bothered, as long as we kept our shape.

“When we did win the ball, we had the players going forwards to hit them on the counter attack, and we showed that with the opportunities that we had.

“It’s a shame we couldn’t put them away but all in all, a good performance in which we can take forward to Tuesday night.”

On the freedom going forwards…

“The manager wants the attacking players we have to take the shackles off and go out and express themselves.

“As a defensive unit are prepared to do the hard work at the back, and then that gives the others the chance to go up the pitch and create chances.

“We did that today, but unfortunately we have not put one away. I am sure we will do other games."

On Tuesday’s game against Rochdale…

“There’s no hiding that this is a big game for us.

“Any team that can get a win against Rochdale, it sets them up nicely and I hope that is us when we play them.

“A win would set a gap and results have gone our way this afternoon which makes the point today a very valuable one.

“We will take it game by game because we can’t look to far forwards, we just need to make sure we are ready come Tuesday.”

On taking each game as it comes…

“In the situation we are in now, we have to take it game by game.

“You can’t look three or four games ahead as before you know it, you don’t have enough matches to catch up with the points.

“When you look at the table, you need to keep collecting points which will then see you move higher, so fingers crossed we can go out and get all three points in our next match.”

On being out of the relegation zone…

“Mentally it is a good thing coming out of it, and it shows that today’s point is a valuable one.

“Sometimes you can look at a game and feel sorry for yourself for not winning it, but it does prove this is a tough place to come and collect anything.

“As I have said, it now sets up Tuesday night.”


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