Head Coach Simon Grayson spoke to the press on Thursday afternoon ahead of Fleetwood Town’s Sky Bet League One clash against Accrington Stanley.
Grayson will be looking to extend the Cod Army’s four-match unbeaten streak at Highbury at the weekend, with the last game at home ending in a 1-1 draw against Charlton Athletic last week.
Here’s what Simon had to say in his pre-match press conference:
On the opposition…
“I think the people who are surprised about where Accrington are, haven’t seen them play and don’t know the players, Jimmy [Bell] and John [Coleman]. When you watch them, they play with enthusiasm, on the front foot, and are positive in the way they look at things.
“They are a handful so to people who know the club, they aren’t surprised. We are under no illusions that this will be an easy game for us because they are in a good position, with games in hand and if they win those, they could jump into the top six.
“We know this will be a tough game. It’s a Lancashire derby as well so there is plenty at stake. Both teams lost on Tuesday night so both will want to get back to winning ways as quickly as possible.”
On the upcoming busy schedule…
“You look in your diary and see both Tuesday and Saturday have a fixture involved – it is what it is. We are no different to other clubs, in fact, they might have busier schedules as they have had some games cancelled so it’s full-on for everybody.
“You recover, work on the training ground and prepare for the next game. We want as many players available for the busy schedule coming in March and most clubs will be the same. We’ll look forward to it.
“We knew it was going to be a tough run of fixtures, with some teams that are certainly in the top eight or nine. Whether the other team is at the top or the bottom, we want to win no matter who we are playing.”