Fleetwood Town boss believes victory over Plymouth Argyle could have been greater

Fleetwood Town boss Joey Barton saluted his five-star team’s ‘dominant’ performance as they claimed their biggest league win since August 2018.
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Two goals from in-form Callum Camps – who now has 10 for the season – and a first Fleetwood strike for Sam Finley contributed to a 5-1 win over Plymouth Argyle.

Wes Burns scored his first goal since February and Blackburn Rovers loan defender Charlie Mulgrew netted his first since arriving at Highbury as the rampant Cod Army completed a fine afternoon at the office.

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Substitute Luke Jephcott scored a consolation goal with six minutes remaining to deny the hosts a clean sheet.

Fleetwood Town head coach Joey Barton   Picture: Stephen Buckley/PRiME Media Images LimitedFleetwood Town head coach Joey Barton   Picture: Stephen Buckley/PRiME Media Images Limited
Fleetwood Town head coach Joey Barton Picture: Stephen Buckley/PRiME Media Images Limited

The Pilgrims finished the game with 10 men when substitute Niall Canavan was sent off for a second yellow card after a reckless foul on Ched Evans.

Having beaten Bristol Rovers 4-1 last Saturday, Barton’s goal-hungry players have now scored an impressive nine in their last two league matches.

“We could have won 6-0 or 7-0,” reflected Barton. “It was a dominant performance.

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“I’m a little bit disappointed because I thought our dominance warranted an absolute shutout.

“I wouldn’t go as far as to say it was a perfect performance because there’s elements of the first half where I certainly thought we should have come in (at half-time) further ahead.

“It’s always frustrating as a manager when you’re that much in control and you make changes to try and lift and go on and score more goals.

“They (Plymouth) have got a good side and they no doubt had an off night but they’ll bounce back.

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“Their away form hasn’t been fantastic and we knew how good our home (form) has been.

“We know how good a side we are and it’s difficult for anybody to come here.

“We knew if we started with the correct intensity it would be a difficult afternoon for Plymouth – and that’s how it turned out.

“I was really pleased we scored five goals and after 65-70 minutes I was pleased I could make substitutions with one eye on the Sunderland game on Friday night.

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“It’s very rare you get to do that in this division because the teams are very closely matched.

“To win at a canter was really pleasing. Now we can get a bit of rest and recuperation into the lads that started the game.”

Victory for Barton’s improving charges saw them climb a place to seventh in League One and within touching distance of breaking into the play-off positions.

The former Newcastle United midfielder believes his side is coming along nicely as they start to build their charge to try and challenge for a tilt at Championship football next season.

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“We’ve got a strong squad and we’re looking forward to what this season brings,” admitted Barton, whose side has lost only one of its last 19 league outings at home.

“We’ve been good across my tenure here. The lads have always turned up and performed, especially here.

“The disappointing thing for me is we don’t have the fans in.

“This is probably as good a group of lads as has been seen at Fleetwood Town, certainly in terms of depth of squad.

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“Our fans would really enjoy watching this group as we do from the sidelines.

“You’ve seen in leagues around the world and the Premier League here in England, the home team bias has been flipped on its head a little bit because of the lack of fans.

“So we’re expecting, when our fans come back in, to get even stronger at home.

“That will hopefully set us up for the back half of the season and hopefully better than last year, which was finishing in the play-offs.”

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