Defender Josh Earl spoke to the local press on Thursday afternoon ahead of Fleetwood Town’s trip down south to face Ebbsfleet United in the Second Round of the Emirates FA Cup at the weekend.
Since joining the club in the summer, the 24-year-old has been a constant figure in the side and has already featured in more than 20 games for the Cods in all competitions, whether that be at centre-half or as a full-back on the left-hand side. Earl is hoping that Town can take the positives from the Bolton loss last week and build on them as they search for a spot in the Third Round of the competition.
Here’s what Josh had to say in his interview:
On the excitement of playing in the FA Cup…
“You have to take every game seriously because we know that they are going to be a challenge on the day as they have some good players there. It’s going to be a tough game as we are going down to their place and will have to deal with their fans, as well as it being on TV – it’s one of those that we will have to attack 100 per cent from the start and give them the respect they deserve.
“It’s something to look forward to; it gives other players a chance to get some minutes, who might not have played as much as others so far this season. It would be nice for all those picked to have a run-out and, hopefully, come back with all three points and take whatever confidence we can from that game into the league.
“We can’t go in half-hearted; we need to go in full throttle. It’s exciting as it gives us even more to play for in the cup as it’s a great cup, not just for us, but for everyone involved in the competition. I think if we manage to get through, it would be nice to get a big away draw against a Premier League side in the Third Round.”
On his non-league memories at Lancaster City…
“It feels like a long time ago, I can’t remember much of it, but from what I do, I remember enjoying it. It was a big awakening for me as I went when I was either 16 or 17 years old and it made me into a better player, that’s for sure.
“You go straight into men’s football, get pushed around, and have to get used to the speed of play, which was massively different from the 18s football I was playing at the time - it was a great experience for me.
“I was surprised by the quality when I went there all those years ago. Like I said before, we know that this Ebbsfleet side has a lot of quality and it will be a tough game no matter what for us.”
On bouncing back from the Bolton loss…
“We were all absolutely gutted after the [Bolton Wanderers] game last weekend and we’ve only got ourselves to blame for it really but, as you have to do in football, you have to put things behind you as there are so many games coming up and we have to make sure we go into them with confidence – you’ve got to try and take the positives and move on.
“We did a lot right and I had a chance to put the game to bed at one-nil and I missed it, unfortunately, we couldn’t hold on. In the first half, we did a lot of things right, but we got sloppy in the second half and maybe played a bit too deep at times, but again we will learn from these things and make those changes for the next game so we can do them right in the future.
“They are doing well in their league as they find themselves top of the table with a couple of games in hand as well so we mustn’t underestimate them. We can get good clips of them and will be able to analyse them to figure out where we can break them down and will also sort out how to stop them as well – we are treating it like every other game.”