Head Coach Simon Grayson sat down with the media at Poolfoot Farm on Thursday afternoon ahead of his side’s league clash against Crewe Alexandra at Highbury.
Grayson, who saw Town beat Barrow 3-1 in the Papa John’s Trophy in their last outing, will be looking to get back to winning ways at home in the league after having a week off due to international call-ups last week.
Here’s what the Gaffer had to say in his pre-match interview:
On Crewe Alexandra…
“When we’ve watched the games and had reports back on them, they are a club in change as they lost [Owen] Dale, Harry [Pickering], and a few others who went back on loan so they’ve had to re-recruit a new group of players, who may still be finding their feet.
“All you’ve got to do is look at their last two away games, they drew against Rotherham and drew at Plymouth as well. They also drew against Cambridge in their last game, so we know we are in for a tough one.
“There are no easy games in this division and we’ve got to be at it with, and without, the ball and try to punish them whilst limiting them to a few opportunities because they’ve got players who can take them. They’ve got Chris Porter and one or two others so I know that it’ll be a tough task.”
“We are in a good position in terms of the number of goals but somewhere down the line, I would like to have a clean sheet in the books as it gives you a better opportunity. If you are watching us as a Fleetwood fan, or as a neutral, you are going to get some entertainment and that’s what football is all about.”
On the recent international break…
“When you look at the number of players that have been away on international duty, it’s fantastic recognition for the football club.
“It’s been the owner’s drive and ambition to make Poolfoot into a place where players can come through, get a pathway, and potentially get a place in our first-team, which may get you recognition elsewhere.
“We’ve had players away with England, Northern Ireland, and Republic of Ireland so it’s been a brilliant time for us as a football club.”
On the season so far…
“We have a run of games coming up that if we play well in them, we can get some positive results and move up the table. We’d like to be further up the table but, you only have to get a win here and there and before you know it, you are halfway up the table and heading towards the top six, which is our ambition.
“We’ve had a normal week so far, the lads that have been here had been working hard on the training pitch, with the limited numbers we had available to train. We’ve been struggling with a lot of injuries, which I don’t think many have had as many injuries to key players as we’ve had.
“We’ve played really well at times, but we just need to start to cut out silly mistakes it’s only fine margins between winning and losing games. Hopefully, the young players will learn from their experiences and will look to improve on their performances, even though they have been good for a large part.
“To look at the season, I think the performances we’ve been putting in has been better than our current league position as we’ve put the graft in, played some really tough teams, and have played some good stuff.”