Joey Barton: Safety first at Fleetwood to give players best preparation

Joey Barton says Fleetwood Town have done everything possible to provide the best and safest training environment for their players to prepare for their play-off semi-finals against Wycombe Wanderers.
Joey Barton says every step has been taken to ensure his Fleetwood players feel as safe as possibleJoey Barton says every step has been taken to ensure his Fleetwood players feel as safe as possible
Joey Barton says every step has been taken to ensure his Fleetwood players feel as safe as possible
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After a three-week build-up back at Poolfoot Farm, the squad are counting down the days to Friday’s first leg at Highbury.

Of course safety has been the paramount concern as everyone remains on guard against coronavirus, and Barton insists the players couldn’t be in better hands.

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Town’s head coach told BBC Radio Lancashire: “You just have to prepare superbly, cover every option and do your due diligence.

“You follow the protocols and the rules, and we’ve got really good people at the football club who are smarter than me in many regards on these issues.

“You have to hope you can get your players through as safely as you can.

“That’s the overriding concern and if you don’t feel safe how can you focus on being on the football pitch?

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“As a football club, I think we’ve been at the forefront of making sure our players feel in the best space to perform.

“It isn’t easy because of the nature of what we’re dealing with, and we’ll find out after the play-offs whether we have done the correct thing. All you can do is prepare superbly.”

Having gradually stepped up their training from a socially-distanced start, Fleetwood are back in full-contact mode and played a behind-closed-doors friendly away to Wigan Athletic on Tuesday, when all available players were involved.

A media conference is planned for Monday, though Town have kept their build-up low-profile so far to focus fully on the task in hand.

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Barton added: “We’ve got a two-legged tie against Wycombe for another fantastic opportunity but we can’t focus on anything beyond the first leg. We’re really looking forward to it.

“The lads are champing at the bit and ideally you get a fantastic performance and it’s set up nicely for a really good tie over two legs.

“I think it will be a very entertaining game and hopefully we’ll reach our levels of performance. We’re confident that if we do that we’re more than a match for any team in our division.

“It’s an exciting journey for everyone involved in Fleetwood Town.”

The second leg ties in the League One play-offs on July 6 are among the matches to be screened outdoors in the Beer Garden at Poolfoot Farm. See the club website for full details.