Fleetwood Town take on Accrington Stanley on Saturday afternoon at Highbury Stadium, with Town looking to make it two home league wins on the bounce.
Fleetwood come into this game against John Coleman’s Accrington Stanley after an impressive result away at Sunderland last weekend in Sky Bet League One.
With Town picking up their first home win last time out in the 2-1 victory over Bradford City, the coaching staff and the players are ready to make that record two home wins out of two. Ten changes were made in midweek when Leicester City U21s travelled to the Fylde Coast, with a number of the Sunderland squad being rested.
Joey Barton spoke to the press on Thursday morning and talked about Accrington Stanley and their success last season, the ones to watch, and his own team news going into the match.
Head coach Joey Barton said…
“They had a phenomenal year last season when they went on to win League Two and the club have made a great start to their campaign. The club builds its success around the togetherness that they have.
“I have spoken to our lads about games and in the games where you are expected to win, they can be the ones where it is the most difficult to pick up the points and from watching footage of them, they are a team and that is the biggest compliment I can give them.
“They all work together and have that togetherness and alongside that, they have talent with the likes of Billy Kee – who was Accrington’s top scorer last season with 25 league goals – Sean McConville and Jordan Clark, so we know it will be tough.
“We need to be on our metal and if we are at it, we have the players and that has been shown in recent weeks that we are a match for anybody.”
Accrington Boss John Coleman said…
“I don’t think I have ever had such strength in depth since I have been at the club. I have got seven loan players and I swore I wouldn’t do that but needs must as I had to prepare for every eventuality.
“We have a good set of players here and I have never had the chance to have three strikers on the bench like we had last Saturday. I have never had three good strikers on the bench and then we have a couple of good ones sat in the stand. That’s pleasing and going forward it will help us.
“I have known Joey a long time and whenever we come across each other we have a chat. He has a good personality to be a manager – he is a deep thinker about the game. He knows about the game and I have chatted with him since he took over at Fleetwood. I think he will do a really good job – although I hope not on Saturday."
2018/19 Sky Bet League One Form (Last five matches L-R):
Fleetwood Town: D W D W D (Currently on 12 points)
Accrington Stanley: D D D W D (Currently on 10 points)
Stanley’s Danger Man
Billy Kee is the man to watch for Accrington when they travel to Highbury Stadium this Saturday afternoon.
Kee finished last season as Sky Bet League Two’s top scorer after bagging 25 league goals in 46 matches. The forward had a short spell at Accrington in 2009 and after time away, he re-joined Accrington in 2015 and has gone on to score 55 goals in 130 matches for the club.
With spells at Torquay United, Burton Albion and Scunthorpe United, the 27-year-old has scored goals where ever he has been, and adds plenty of assists to his game, with seven coming last season alone.
Kee has represented Northern Ireland at U19 level and at U21 level, but it yet to make his senior international debut.
Betting Preview
Joey Barton’s Fleetwood Town go into this game as favourites and are priced at evens to pick up their second home win.
Accrington Stanley are priced at 14/5 to win away from home, with a draw at 12/5.
There have been goals scored in matches between the two sides and for Fleetwood Town forward Ched Evans to score first, the odds are at 7/2, with Paddy Madden at 5/1.
You can find more odds for the match on Sky Bet. Please bet and gamble responsibly.