Head coach Scott Brown spoke to the club after his side performed valiantly in their narrow loss against Premier League side Everton at Highbury.
The Cods showed their spirits throughout their Carabao Cup tie against the Toffees on Tuesday night as they pushed them right to the end and almost secured a big result against a topflight side to continue the side’s recent run of good form, which the Cod Army seemed to be impressed by.
Here’s what the gaffer had to say after the game:
On his overall view of the game…
“For me it’s all about the performance, for the first 45 minutes I thought it was exceptional, getting close to top quality Premier League players and the lads set the tone and that goes in training and in games as well.
“They have that belief in what we do on the field and, structurally behind the ball, we’re exceptional. They’re going to have waves of attacks now and then as we’re playing against a Premier League team which is acceptable, but I thought we fought well.
“We were calm, collective on the ball, and composed as well. It’s a different side of the game so for us to get that understanding and for the lads to believe in us and know that they are top quality players, and that they can play against Premier League teams as well.”
On the younger players featuring in the game…
“We’ve got young lads coming on who haven’t played many games and I thought Drew [Baker] was amazing, from start to finish – he was exceptional. Drew was calm and had great ideas when he was on the ball, but I thought he defended well against a top Premier League centre forward.
“So was [Cian] Hayes; his learning over the last four to five weeks on how to play in that position, by not just relying on his pace and showing he can work on his defensive side as well has been great.
“We believe he can go higher. Once he goes forwards, he causes all sorts of problems, we know what he can do going forward but he needs to make sure he's one of the lads helping out behind the ball and, today, he was exceptional.
“He ran his body into the ground and ends up getting cramp, but that’s what we want. We put the demands on the players to work hard, to get on the ball, and to have that belief in themselves because once they have that belief, they can play against teams like that and can compete as well.”
On taking the form into Saturday’s game against Lincoln…
“I couldn’t be any prouder because I went in at half time and said can they have that same intensity in the second half, and they all did that. I had a smile on my face when I was sat there as when one went in for a tackle, the others were behind them to help out.
“They were all brave in the way they passed forwards against top-quality defenders and also have the ability to go and control the game at times as well was great. “Home form is going to be key throughout the whole season as you win games, slowly pick up points, and keep on moving up that table.”
“We need to rest players in order for us to get the best out of our league campaign, that means giving them less minutes here and there which is part and parcel of the game. The league is huge for us, and we just need to make sure we perform well on Saturday now.
“It’s ok to go out there and play well against Everton when everyone’s adrenaline is flying but, can you go and do that again on Saturday and continue this run of form. If we carry on playing like that, we will be a force this season, especially at home as well.”