Charlie Mulgrew: Fleetwood are playing good football but it's wins we want

Charlie Mulgrew played his first game of 2021 against Portsmouth

Fleetwood Town's interim head coach sees positives in Portsmouth defeat

Town travel to Stadium MK (7pm) on the back of defeat against Pompey at Highbury on Saturday.

Simon Wiles’ first league game as interim boss after Joey Barton’s departure saw Town beaten by John Marquis’ first-half goal and the Cod Army players left to rue missed opportunities.

Defender Mulgrew said: “We played some really nice football and it’s disappointing not to win the game.

“We want to win games, that’s what you play for, that’s the main objective – the three points.

“We played the better football but it’s a shame we didn’t come away with three points.

“Sometimes that’s worse than playing badly and not getting the points. We conceded a sloppy goal and that’s disappointing.”

Defeat left Town 11th in the League One table, five places and four points ahead of tonight’s hosts as they approach the midway point of the campaign.

Their opponents go into the game on the back of defeat at Peterborough United, though Mulgrew admitted to being slightly in the dark as to their capabilities.

“What I know so far is they are a massive team,” he said.

“That’s as much as I know. We need to prepare how we’re going to play against them, I’m sure the manager will have a say.

“It’s up to us to put on a performance and get the points.”

Town’s weekend defeat was their first league game since the Boxing Day draw at Crewe Alexandra as a result of matches being called off for Covid-19 and players forced to self-isolate.

Nine of Saturday’s starters had featured in Town’s midweek Papa John’s Trophy tie at Hull City.

Mulgrew, however, wasn’t one of them and acknowledged the lack of game time caught up with him last weekend.

“It’s been difficult isolating for a few days,” he said after the Portsmouth game.

“You can’t train and (for) the game at Hull we had one or two niggly injuries. That comes with not doing a lot in 10 days.

“Saturday was my first game since Boxing Day and I was feeling tired. It’s difficult to go straight in there but it’s the way it is. We aren’t complaining.

“There’s no excuses. Teams are dealing with the situation so we have to deal with it as well.”

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