Forward Harvey Saunders is delighted with getting his first professional hat-trick as Fleetwood overcame Aston Villa U21s 3-0 in the EFL Trophy Group stage fixture.
A first career hat-trick in 15 minutes put Fleetwood in the driving seat within three minutes with a well-taken effort after he took advantage of a miscommunication between Aston Villa’s defence.
His second goal was gifted to him by Villa defender Mungo Bridge as Saunders anticipated the ball across the box, a touch out of his feet and a strike into the top right corner leaving Villa’s keeper no chance.
Saunders’ third arrived as he got in front of the Villa defender and headed home into the top corner in emphatic fashion and he was delighted with the team’s efforts.
“Happy we got the win, hopefully that’s enough to get to the knock-out stages - I think the lads played great. I feel great after scoring my first Fleetwood hat-trick,” said the forward.
The hat-trick against Villa sees Saunders’ tally in the EFL Trophy go to five goals in just two games and he’s determined to transform this form in the league.
He said: “Yeah obviously you want to score goals as a striker, hopefully scoring them here will put the thoughts in the gaffer’s mind and to kick on in the league.”
The 23-year-old is determined to make sure that the side carry the momentum from the Aston Villa win into the next game, which is a home tie against Hull City.
“Yeah after the back of that performance the lads are ready to kick on, like I say Hull are a big team, but yeah we’re confident we’ll try and get the three points.”
Harvey and the squad are back in action on Friday as they are set to face Hull City in a Sky Bet League One fixture, which will be shown live opn Sky Sports, with kick-off at 7:45pm.