Fleetwood boss Joey Barton hails improvement of keeper Alex Cairns

Alex Cairns’ Fleetwood Town resurgence has pleased his head coach after the goalkeeper stepped back into the breach following a troubled summer.
Alex Cairns has made the most of an early opportunity to become Fleetwood's first-choice keeper againAlex Cairns has made the most of an early opportunity to become Fleetwood's first-choice keeper again
Alex Cairns has made the most of an early opportunity to become Fleetwood's first-choice keeper again
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Joey Barton says 'exciting' attacker can get Fleetwood back on track

Former Huddersfield Town keeper Joel Coleman was given the number one shirt by Joey Barton on signing for the club but picked up an injury just two games into the season.

Cairns made errors in last season’s play-off semi-final against Wycombe Wanderers and has had to fight for his usual starting spot.

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Town head to Rochdale tomorrow having lost their last two League One fixtures but boss Barton is not unduly concerned, using his experience from last season to remain level-headed.

He said: “I’m really pleased to see how Alex Cairns has responded to the disappointment of the Wycombe play-off game.

“I thought he was superb against Everton, when he kept us in the game. His kicking has got a lot better.

“He looks a lot more grounded and it looks like we’ve got a better goalkeeper than we had last season. He’s responded to the challenge in the correct way.

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“We’ve got Joel to come back at some stage, so we’re in a good spot but we’re three players short.

“We lost to Peterborough late on and we’ve lost to Gillingham but you have to remain steadfast in your belief that we’ll get what we need to get.

“The team didn’t settle down until January last season. But if we can keep our heads now it will pay dividends once reinforcements arrive and we can get a settled group.”

Transfers are a hot topic around Highbury at the moment, with the Cod Army boss repeatedly spelling out his need to add experience in defence, though he remains grateful for the support of chairman Andy Pilley.

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Barton added: “We have a way that we want to do things, and we had a good season last year and pushed on.

“You look at the financial power of the clubs looking to get promoted – clubs where the demand is to be promoted – we don’t have that money.

“You see Hull spending and you see Peterborough spending millions. We’re not able to do that. We’re just not a club that does that.

“We have to do it a slightly different way. The chairman always backs his managers here.

“He’s always backed me and I’m absolutely sure he’ll do the same again.”