Fleetwood new boy Sam Stubbs says: Play-offs are the goal but I won't be looking beyond Burton Albion

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The new boy, who arrived from Middlesbrough on a two-year deal this week, is not one to get carried away.

The Cod Army welcome Burton Albion to Highbury this afternoon as they get their League One campaign under way and Stubbs is well aware of what Town’s target for 2020/21 will be.

But he takes a more short- term view and told The Gazette: “Certainly from my point of view I just take it game by game. The play-offs are the end goal but I just approach Saturday, and then I’ll approach Tuesday. That’s the best way I like to approach it.

“From a collective and a club point of view, I think the play-offs are the goal.

“Anyone in League One understands it is achievable, especially with Wycombe going up last year, I don’t think many would have expected that. A lot of their style of play and their basics were centred around hard work.

“That’s something I think the gaffer is massive on here and the club as a whole understands how far hard work can get you.”

The atmosphere around the club played a part in Stubbs’ decision to join. The group at Poolfoot is very tight-knit and the minimum requirement is that everyone works for each other, an ethos Joey Barton believes strongly in.

The Town head coach has already made an impression on the 21-year-old. Stubbs said: “He’s had a chat with me about what he’s seen of me, what he thinks I could do better and what he likes about my game. He also spoke about how we’re going to play and what he wants from me.

“Probably the biggest thing he said is that he wants people who want to succeed, want to learn and want to become better.

“That’s all you can ask for – that you come in every day and you try to come out of the door better than you came in it.

“That’s something that personally I was looking for wherever I went next – the type of atmosphere we’ve got here.

“I’ve been in changing rooms where it hasn’t been like that, where it’s been negative and not nice at times.

“A lot of my loans have been to decent levels but with teams at the wrong end of the table. “There’s definitely a consistency in the changing rooms probably not being the way they should be. There hadn’t been that work ethic and the players pulling for each other.

“I’ve been here a few days and as much as the gaffer does set the standard, so do the players. We work hard and you enjoy hard work.”