Bell calls for ruthless touch in final games

Town are two points above the drop zone, and with crunch matches to come at Walsall next Monday and at home to Crewe on Sunday week, Bell says they need to be more clinical.

Four points will almost certainly be enough to keep Town up but Bell believes they can win both games if they take their chances.

He said: “We will work on our defensive shape and our attacking.

“I think sometimes that in the final third we have not been lethal enough. But as long as we get that right and are more clinical, then we will win the games.”

Town drew 0-0 with Blackpool on Saturday, and despite being disappointed not to have taken all three points, Bell is still positive they can beat the drop because their fate is still in their own hands.

He said: “It was a tough game and if we had won it we would have put (the relegation battle) to bed.

“But on the whole it is another point and we have got two more games.

“It is in our own hands, so hopefully we will get a win at Walsall.”

Jimmy Ryan hit the woodwork, while Blackpool’s Danny Philliskirk had a goal chalked off for offside.

And despite not getting that vital win, Bell says it was a decent draw.

The 21-year-old left-back said: “I don’t think we had any clear-cut chances. Jimmy’s shot was a great effort.

“They had a goal disallowed, which was great for us because a loss in that game would have been very disappointing. On the whole it was a decent draw.”

Asked if nerves and the fear of losing affected Town’s performance, Bell added: “I wouldn’t say so. In the first half we did well .

“In the second half we didn’t do as great but we did not do badly.

“I think the midweek game (the 1-0 defeat at Millwall last Tuesday) had an affect on us but a draw is not bad.”

Bell says the extra two days before the Walsall game, which is to be televised on holiday Monday, will help Town and he believes they can beat a fourth-placed Saddlers side looking to cement their play-off place

He said: “We need stay strong, and to be mentally right and physically right.

“We have got to do it ourselves – we can’t really rely on anybody else.

“We have a lot of time now to get our preparation right and go into the game ready to win it.”

Town have already faced the Saddlers twice this season and lost both.

Walsall knocked them out of the FA Cup 2-0 in November and beat them 1-0 in the league at Highbury last month.

Bell is anticipating a tough test. He said: “Walsall are right near the top of the table, so they are going to want to get a win against us to keep their promotion hopes high. But we have done well against them – we have just been a bit unlucky.

“We were a bit sloppy on some of the goals, but as long as we can get that right we can go there and win.

“That has been the story of our season – we have played well and outplayed teams, and that bit of a lack of concentration has cost us the game.

“But as long as we get that right and stay tight as a unit we can get that win.

“I believe we can go there and do the job.”

And Bell says that even though the relegation battle is going down to the wire, he believes Town will stay up.

“We’ve left it very late, but as long as we stay strong and stay tight as a group, we can come through this,” he said.

n Shola Ameobi returned from a hamstring injury to replace Antoni Sarcevic with 20 minutes to go against Blackpool.

Fleetwood boss Steven Pressley said: “Ordinarily I probably would not have put Shola on the bench. He’d only trained two days and has been out for a number of weeks.

“But Shola gives us a presence. He gives us a physicality we haven’t got otherwise and I just felt that could be needed.

“Probably the change was forced upon me quicker than I would have made it.

“I felt he probably had 10 or 15 minutes of football in him, but credit to him – he worked hard.”