Head Coach Simon Grayson spoke to the media after his side’s narrow 2-1 away defeat to Ipswich Town at Portman Road on Saturday afternoon.
The Cods thought they had nicked a well-deserved point in the tie against the Tractor Boys with not long left in the tie through a Callum Morton header, which cancelled out Conor Chaplin’s opener, but a last-gasp goal from substitute Bersant Celina saw the home side take all the points on the day.
Here’s what the Fleetwood boss had to say:
On the heartbreaking defeat...
“It was (heartbreaking) because I don’t think we deserved to lose that. I thought we played really well, the shape and organisation was really good, the players carried out the instructions we asked them to do, against a strong Ipswich team, who have got some fantastic players and they’re one of the favourites for the division.
“First half I thought we were comfortable; we passed the ball well and asked questions of them. Obviously, we suffered the disappointment of conceding straight after half-time, but we responded in a positive manner by not buckling under the pressure of 20000 people here and we kept believing we could get something.
"Ultimately, we got the equaliser but then we just switched off in the last minute or so, which is devastating for the players and the supporters that traveled all the way down here.”
On fine margins within the game...
“We certainly didn’t buckle under the pressure of a big crowd, we moved the ball well and when Paddy (Lane) cut in, great ball in, he saw Callum Morton pulling off the shoulder and he finished it really well and it’s probably what we deserved out of that game, the draw.
“We’ve talked a lot about fine margins already this season, and fine margins have cost us points again today, it’s something we’ve got to eradicate because if you’re on the wrong side of fine margins you’re going to drop points and we have been a lot this season by someone not busting a gut to be with the runner or being alert to win the second ball so late in the game, you’ve got to make sure you can manage the game better because I feel a draw is exactly what we deserved.
“We didn’t stay with the full-back in the first place and one of the midfield players is close enough to the lad who scores but then doesn’t bust a gut to get five yards inside him where the danger was and that’s the fine margins that we’re talking about and we’ve got to eradicate them because we’re a good team with some good players and we played some really good football again today, as we have done a lot.
"Like last week against Crewe, we didn’t give the opposition any fine margins in their favour and we won the game 3-0. Today, we’ve given the opposition an opportunity and it’s cost us points again.”