Fleetwood Town boss gears up for a busy summer's work ahead

It’s expected to be a hectic period at Highbury as Town look to build a challenge for promotion again after experiencing a disappointing 2020/21 season.

There are also a number of players whose contracts are set to expire, with offers on the table for some and talks ongoing.

That doesn’t mean a split focus for head coach Simon Grayson who feels both this season’s performances and results go hand in hand when it comes to their summer acquisitions.

A strong finish to the current campaign will stand them in better stead to recruit higher calibre players going into the new season.

Grayson said: “It’s difficult because you are competing against some really big clubs in League One.

“It’s not easy because finances have been hit at clubs because of the Covid pandemic.

“We are no different and are probably going to have to cut our cloth accordingly in the summer.

“I’ve been assessing our squad since February 1 when I walked in.

“Over the past few weeks we’ve been speaking to agents and football clubs about players for next season but we’re looking to finish as high as we can in the division.

“That brings better quality players knocking on the door and wanting to come to you, rather than you chasing the scrags at the back end of the window.”

The Cod Army are back in action tomorrow when they host League One’s bottom side, Rochdale (3pm).

Dale are winless in 13 since a win over Bristol Rovers at the end of January.

Fleetwood got themselves back to winning ways on Monday thanks to Barrie McKay’s goal in a 1-0 victory over AFC Wimbledon.

Grayson still demands more from his side, though, and has issued them with a challenge for their remaining seven matches.

“It’s another game we want to win,” he said. “We’ve stressed to the players that we want to win all the remaining games until the end of the season and finish as high up the table as we can, then see where that takes us.

“It’s a tough target to win the last eight but you have to set targets to achieve what you want.

“We don’t want to just win one of the last eight, but if we can’t win all eight, we’ll try to win seven because those are the standards I set in training each day.

“I’ve seen how the players pass the ball in training and how we can play, but against Wimbledon we’ve made a lot of mistakes by giving the ball away far too cheaply.

“When we got it back, we’ve given it straight back to Wimbledon and they’ve moved it around well.

“Our keeper (Alex Cairns) didn’t have too much to do thanks to the lads in front of him but I have high standards.

“We’d have liked to have had more shots on target given the way Wimbledon play and open up the pitch.

“We thought there might be space to play but we didn’t capitalise on that when we got possession.

“The back three have been immense and Danny Andrew dropped in there when Harrison (Holgate) got injured.

“They put their bodies on the line and are proper defenders.

“They have kept clean sheets and given a platform for the rest of the team to go and get the three points.”

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