Fleetwood Town head coach Joey Barton left frustrated after his side drew 3-3 with Southend United at Roots Hall on Saturday afternoon.
Barton saw his side come back from a goal behind to lead at the break thanks to goals from new signing Jimmy Dunne and forward Josh Morris. However with a goal early in the second half from Stephen Humphrys, it was Kyle Dempsey who scored the third to give Town back the lead.
Dunne nearly made it 4-2 after a darting run down the left flank, but within 90 seconds of his effort hitting the inside of the post, Humphrys’ bagged his brace to share the points in Essex.
Here is what Joey Barton had to say after the game...
On the result…
“I’m really disappointed we haven’t taken maximum points this afternoon. We were miles the better side and the side who created the better of the opportunities and in the game we were undone with two free-kicks which we maybe should have been smarter with not to give away, and then with them chasing the game, and us trying to kill it off with that fourth goal and take away the three points. We conceded a goal at the death and we are disappointed we didn’t win the game.
“We knew they’d react with the new manager / caretaker manager going in, but we spoke to the lads before the game and said if we take care of our business, play at our level and do what we do best, there won’t be much Southend could do about it. I don’t think we were full pelt – there were spells of it and when we got into that, we were scintillating going forward. We should have been more clinical but that is just football.
On Kyle Dempsey’s 100th EFL appearance for Fleetwood Town and the goal…
“Kyle has deserved it! He was unfortunate not to get on the score sheet against Oxford United last week, and since he has come back he has been a credit to himself really. He knew it wasn’t working for him last year and with our demands we have on players, they will remain the same and again that credit goes to Kyle.
“He realised he had a bit of work to do and managed to work on that over the summer on and off the pitch, and that has given him the platform to do what he has done and with the way we are playing this season in terms of the system, it has benefited him. This formation allows him to showcase all the things we know he is good at.
“It would have been nice for his goal to be the winning goal, but overall we are delighted for Demps. It’s a checkpoint with his progress and development and as I said, he didn’t have the easiest of years, but he has battled through.”
Watch Joey Barton’s full interview on iFollow HERE.