Fleetwood Town head coach Joey Barton spoke to the media on Thursday ahead of the upcoming match with Burton Albion.
The Cod Army welcome Nigel Clough’s side to Highbury on Saturday, with just five points separating Barton’s side and The Brewers.
See below the key quotes from Barton’s press conference at Poolfoot Farm.
On the international break…
“We would have loved to have carried on playing, especially when you lose the last game, you just want to get back out there. Usually in League One the games come thick and fast and you can get moving forward, but we’re looking forward to getting back out there on Saturday.
“We were able to do some things like team bonding activities and getting a bit of freshness into the lads. They were good to go anyway but we know there is a tough period coming up now in terms of the lead up to the hectic Christmas and January schedules for everyone.
“I am looking forward to now three games next week and then the kind of normality of a League One campaign, mixed in with the FA Cup which is obviously on the horizon as well.”
On Burton Albion…
“Nigel (Clough) is always going to have a competitive good side, we know they usually play a 4-3-3 system. We played them twice last year and they were tight affairs, but for us we managed to scrape a win in both of them.
“We know it will be tight, we know it will be competitive and we know that we will have to be at the top of our game to beat an in-form Burton side. So it will be a tough fixture but one that we really fancy our chances in.”
On team news…
“We have got a full complement and - as a manager - you want to have all of your players available because it gives you competition for places and obviously a number of options.
“For me as a coach, the tough decision is to see if Harry Souttar is fresh to come in and start or is he going to need a longer period. Maybe we have an eye on the Coventry and MK Dons games beyond that to use him in.
“We will make a call when we get nearer to the fixture just to see where his energy levels are.”