Fleetwood Town head coach Joey Barton spoke to the press after his side lost 2-1 away at Plymouth Argyle on Saturday afternoon.
Barton’s side had chances in the first half to open the scoring, however so did the home side with Alex Cairns pulling off two fantastic saves to see both sides go into the break level.
The second half was where the goals came from and it was in form man, Freddie Ladapo who took his shot well inside the Town penalty area, and then doubled his tally and Plymouth’s moments later with a header from close range.
Paddy Madden scored with five minutes from time to lower the deficit, but it just wasn’t to be the Cod Army’s day on the South West coast.
Here are the key quotes from Joey’s post-match press conference…
On the game…
“Plymouth are scrapping away at the bottom of the table and last week’s run around from Luton Town was enough to galvanise them against us. I am slightly disappointed because we had a focus on what we were going to do in this game.
“We lacked that bit of quality and that bit of composure in the match and that is something that has surprised a few of us. Momentum in football is key and you see us test their goalkeeper and not taking those chances.
“The first goal was crucial in this match and we let a player dribble in our own half into our final third. It was a strange game with the home side counter attacking the away team. We thought it was a winnable game, but it wasn’t to be so.”
On Alex Cairns and his saves against Plymouth…
“I think Alex is up there for sure as the best goal keeper in the league, and when called upon, he has been first class and has been since I walked through the door.
“Today he made some superb saves as I thought we were fortunate to not go into the break maybe a goal down. He made good stops before they scored their opening goal.
“He has a lot of improvement to do as the games are about levels. There are plenty of players out there who want to get themselves to the next level, but those have to keep working hard and listen to coaches on the training ground.
“On another day, the saves he did make should see him keep a clean sheet, but we know the lads in front of him need to make less work for him.”
On the consolation goal and the second for Plymouth…
“We got undone by a set piece on their second goal and that for me is frustrating. I think we defended 13 corners last week against Walsall very well and that lapse does come when you make a couple of substitutions.
“When you have worked hard during the week, those changes can throw people off but I think a couple of small errors lead to him being free and unmarked to score the header at the back post and it was disappointing.
“Fair play to the lads, they got a goal back and never stopped going until the end, but my thing is that we need to do that when the game was at nil nil.”
On bouncing back against Coventry on Tuesday night…
“The beauty of this league is that games come thick and fast. It will be another tough fixture against Coventry who are a side that are doing well in the league. They are a team who have come from below and have carried on that winning momentum with them this season.
“We are three games unbeaten at home and it is just important that we go and put on a good show for our fans, and bounce back in the right manner.”