Paddy Madden sees shades of his Yeovil Town League One promotion winning pairing with James Hayter in his 30 goal partnership with Ched Evans at Fleetwood Town

Paddy Madden’s 17th goal of the season for Fleetwood at Bradford on Saturday took his combined tally with team-mate Ched Evans to 30 –  and the Town striker sees shades of his 40-goal partnership with James Hayter at Yeovil Town in this new pairing.
Ched Evans and Paddy MaddenChed Evans and Paddy Madden
Ched Evans and Paddy Madden

Madden netted 24 and Hayter 16 as the Glovers clinched promotion from League One via the play-offs in 2012-13.Yeovil’s run came to prominence in the second half of that season after an inconsistent start, and Madden sees comparisons with Fleetwood, after back-to-back 1-0 wins over Charlton Athletic and Bradford City propelled Joey Barton’s side to within five points of sixth-placed Doncaster Rovers.And as they prepare to face league leaders Luton Town this weekend, Madden says that hitting that 30-goal mark with 14 games still to go shows how successful his partnership with Evans is.The duo have been utilised in a front three since Town’s FA Cup exit a month ago, with Ashley Hunter replacing Ashley Nadesan at Bradford last Saturday.And Madden is hungry for more goals as he closes in on the 20-goal mark.He said: “I set myself 20 at the start of the year. Fingers crossed I can get to that and we will go from there.Speaking about Evans he said: “I think we have said from day one that we compliment each other well.“He reminds me of my partner at Yeovil, James Hayter, where everything stuck like glue, and I could run off him and do what I am good at.“I think we compliment each other very well and 30 goals between the two of us with a lot of games to go shows how good we are together.”Evans’ form nearly saw him clinch a move back to the Championship but Bolton Wanderers’ bid to take him on loan collapsed on deadline day.Both Madden and Evans were linked to League One promotion-chasers Sunderland in the window.And Madden, 28, stressed why it was so important to keep Sheffield United loan star Evans at Highbury.He said keeping hold of the 30-year-old is “very important”.He explained: “Of all the strikers, I think Ched gives you that different option. His hold-up play is brilliant.“He gets his body in well where everyone else up there would probably like to run on to things and float around up there.“If Ched had gone, I think the gaffer would probably have brought in a target man like that.“But we are over the moon to have Ched still with us and he shows how important he is to the team.”