Fleetwood Town boss Joey Barton expects Crawley Town to be wary of their attacking threat

Fleetwood Town head coach Joey BartonFleetwood Town head coach Joey Barton
Fleetwood Town head coach Joey Barton

Barton was speaking ahead of Town’s FA Cup second round encounter tomorrow with a chance to go into the pot alongside Premier League sides in round three, if they come away successful.

The Fleetwood boss feels he has a good handle on the Crawley squad and educates his players as such.

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There are also a few faces in particular that are familiar to Barton.

He said: “We always give the lads a picture of what they’re going to face.

“Everyone knows Nadders’ (Ashley Nadesan) qualities.

“He’s very quick to close down space, and if you dwell on the ball, he can be a difficult opponent.

“Their big striker, (Ollie) Palmer; he’s a handful, he’s a good size.

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“There’s a young player who was at QPR with us, Reece Grego-Cox; a good lad, a good attitude and it’s great to see him still in the game grafting away.

“On the flip side of that, whatever player we pick in the attacking space, I’m sure Crawley’s manager will be worrying a lot more about my front six than I will be about his front six, that’s for sure.

“We want to win every football match; that goes right through, that’s the academy and the 23s too.

“It’s not always doable because you have to manage your players, but first team-wise, in the summer, we decided we would now be in a position to challenge on multiple fronts.

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“Winning breeds winning for me, football is very much a momentum sport.

“It’s about getting momentum and keeping it.”

Barton doesn’t see quality being an issue for the hosts on Sunday, more a case of which Crawley side will turn up.

“They’ll be competitive,” he explained.

“They’ve got some players who normally, the difference isn’t about quality, it’s about consistency.

“There will be lads in their side who are capable, certainly on a one-off occasion or for a small period, of playing at a very high level. So we’ll have to take care of them.

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“The key is the consistency. There’s a reason they’re playing in League Two, that’s the reality of it.

“They probably haven’t reached the level of consistency to get themselves into League One, or into the Championship or into the Premier League.

“But clearly if we don’t take care of the basics and do the basics superbly, they’ve got players who can hurt us.”