Head coach Joey Barton sat down with the media on Tuesday afternoon, ahead of his side’s Carabao Cup Round Three clash against Everton at Highbury Stadium.
The Cod Army will play in the third round of the Carabao Cup for the first time in their history on Wednesday, after beating Wigan Athletic in the first round and Port Vale in the second round.
Ahead of the clash, here is what Joey had to say:
On the opposition…
“The league for us will always be the priority, but to give a great account of ourselves live on TV against one of the best coaches in the world, and an Everton side that are on the up, then it will be an exciting occasion.
“Even if Everton rotate, you are playing against household names, international footballers, and Premier League players, I see it as a challenge and look forward to the occasion. We have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain.
“When we cross the white line, we’ve got to do our town and club proud. We’ll have a couple of plans to try and disrupt them, but we want to beat Everton. We aren’t here to just take part; we’ll know that we have to be excellent.”
On Carlo Ancelotti…
“If you can beat a League Two side and get a Premier League side in the next round, you are going to be excited about it. When you are an Evertonian, like I am, and you see Carlo Ancelotti, who is an elite-level coach, it's great.
“As a coach, it’s the first time I’ve coached against him and, for a young coach, it’s an incredible opportunity. For our players, it’s a great opportunity to benchmark themselves against in terms of their football careers.
“He’s gone out, recognised who he needs in his team, and solved the problems. They’ve looked really good this season and they will want to progress in the cup, which means fielding a good side to try and knock us out the competition on Wednesday night.”
Watch Joey’s pre-match interview on our iFollow HERE.