Marcus Braddock looks ahead to the weekend Sky Bet League One action with Fleetwood Town
It's almost time for our next instalment of Sky Bet League One with the visit of Fleetwood Town this Saturday. The Cod Army currently sit in fourth place with seventeen points and a game in hand on two of the three teams above them. They've won five of their nine games so far, but fortunately for us, only one of those wins was acquired on the road. Their four away games have seen them lose once, draw once and lose twice with a goal difference of just -1 (8 for, 9 against).
So far, manager Joey Barton's main goalscorer in the league has been Paddy Madden who's scored five times from five starts and four substitute appearances. Josh Morris isn't far behind him with three from nine starts. Fleetwood's current form is pretty good with two wins and two draws from their last five games in all competitions. They're unbeaten in their previous four games and last lost on August 31st against Lincoln City.
Lewie Coyle has the most assists this season with three from nine games in League One. The 21-year-old defender is in his third spell with Fleetwood, on loan from Leeds United where he's been since he was ten.
Their main strength seems to be going forward and outscoring opponents, they're the highest-scoring team in the top six, and only Peterborough and Oxford have scored more in League One. Fleetwood have only failed to score in one League game this season, and that was in their away game when they lost 2-0.
If Fleetwood have a weakness, it would appear to be that they've only kept one clean sheet all season and that was from their 2-0 win at home to Accrington. They've conceded more goals than any other team in the top six which leaves them with a +4 goal difference, five more than ours. Their highest scoring game was their last away game, which was away at Southend. Both teams scored three times in one of the most exciting draws you're likely to see in this division.
Referee
Kevin Johnson from Somerset. Games this season: 9. Yellow cards: 24. Red cards: 4.
Mr Johnson has been a League Referee since the 2015/15 season. He officiated at one Town game that season, a 1-0 away defeat which saw Andy Mangan sent off in the closing minutes, Johnson's first red card in the Football League.
Squad News
Sam Ricketts has mentioned a few niggles from the Rotherham game but stopped short of saying who, so there are no new names to add to the injury list.
Joey Barton may name an unchanged team with no new injuries to report.
Pre-Match Press
Joey Barton was as complimentary about us as opposition managers usually are and went on to warn against fielding a five-man defence for fear of upsetting the crowd.
Sam Ricketts emphasized the importance of keeping the momentum going, particularly at home where we're unbeaten.
Summary
This is going to be an interesting game which will need full concentration to have any chance of a result. Fleetwood have plenty of threats, and we need to be on top of everything, but we have our own threats for Fleetwood to worry about too. We're definitely good enough to win this weekend, but I mean no disrespect to the Cod Army when I say that. We've all watched the squad being put together, we know what they're capable of, and we've seen the early signs that this could be a good season. We can beat anyone on our day, and I hope this Saturday we can make sure that it is our day.
COYB!!!
Marcus