Fleetwood Town defender Shaun Rooney spoke to the press at Poolfoot Farm on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s Sky Bet League One clash against Accrington Stanley.
Rooney – who has featured 17 times for the Cod Army this season in all competitions – returned to the starting line-up in midweek as Town hosted Forest Green Rovers on home soil. With the hosts behind, Rooney provided an assist for Callum Morton to score his second of the season to salvage a point.
With Accrington Stanley up next, it's a chance for Fleetwood to put points on the board and aim to get the bragging rights over their Lancashire rivals.
Here is what Rooney had to say ahead of the match:
On his time at Fleetwood Town…
“I have enjoyed my time here, it’s a big club who are going places especially with the facilities they have. It was a simple decision to make this summer to join the Club, especially when one of your heroes is there. He [Scott Brown] is a legend up in Scotland and I am a huge Celtic fan so as soon as he came calling, I was ready to say yes.
“He tried to call me from Dubai, but it didn’t work! He phoned me in the summer and I made up my made rather quickly. I met him through playing against him in Scotland and not much in actually knowing him but as I say, he’s a legend at Celtic and I have always respected him.
“When he played for Celtic, I tried to get his shirt in the final game of the season, but he quickly shut shop and I didn’t get the shirt in the end. It was bad new and there was none left afterwards.
“As a manager, he’s ruthless and I enjoy working under a manager who is like that and that gets the best out of me but every player is different. Some players need an arm around them but personally, I like how he deals with me as a manager and he just tells you how it is at half-time or on the training ground, he always says ‘the ball’s not a bomb’.
“For us, I don’t see why we can’t finish as high as possible. The teams we’ve played like Barnsley, we need to hold on against a team who came down from the Championship but it didn’t happen. We need to start making Highbury a tough place for teams to come and look up and maybe see if we can get into the play-offs.”
On the recent results and the draws…
“Some of the recent draws have felt like defeats and obviously the Wycombe one hurt. They were down to ten men and then with Portsmouth, we went a goal behind and then got into the game more in the second half after holding on so much, but for us there’s been a few and we just need to turn those into wins down the line.
“We just haven’t had the cutting edge in the final third. We have been creating a lot of chances and we had lots on Tuesday night. We can’t rely on the strikers 24/7 to put the ball in the net, it even includes me to try and score the goals and I have been in situation his season and I know I should have done better.
“At Portsmouth I had a great chance at the back post and then others where I wanted to do better. I know I am attacking but I will just play however the Gaffer wants me to. I played as a wing-back when at St. Johnstone so they idea was to always switch the play to the wings but it’s important to mix and match and try and be a key part to this team.”
On the upcoming match against Accrington…
“The noise and crowds at Highbury are very good and for a small club, they make their numbers shown every week and I have enjoyed playing under them. It’s disappointing when we draw or lose games, I like to win matches and I go into every match wanting to get the three points.
“It’s going to be a dog fight so we need to make sure we are on the winning side. We need to win that first tackle and that will get the crowd right up for it. Whatever it is we have to do to try and stop them doing what they do well, we will do that and be the first to stop it.”