Fleetwood Town boss reflects on his return to management against Bristol Rovers

Grayson might not have enjoyed a victory in his opening match in charge of the club as his team were frustrated by a resolute Bristol Rovers side in a goalless draw at Highbury on Saturday.

However, the former Blackpool manager was happy to be back on the touchline almost 12 months since he left Bloomfield Road.

“Of course I enjoyed it,” said Grayson.

“I’m the first to admit that there were a few butterflies in my stomach before the game.

“You get that, even after 650, 700 games.

“You still get that adrenaline buzz, though, and you still get nervous when the opposition are going forward.

“You’re worried that your players are going to concede and then excited when they’re creating chances.

“It would have been nice if our supporters had been here and they could have got the group going, but our first week here has been good and there’s lots of good people around.

“It’s about preparing well for Tuesday now and a really tough game against Doncaster.”

It had been a hugely encouraging start to Saturday’s game for Grayson, but the score remained goalless at the interval against struggling Rovers and their under-fire boss Paul Tisdale.

Paddy Madden and Callum Connolly had both gone close for the hosts, while Rovers threatened through Brandon Hanlan and James Daly.

If anything, Rovers then had the better chances in the second period as they responded impressively to their midweek 6-1 defeat at Accrington Stanley.

“That was always going to be a very difficult game,” said Grayson, whose side are now without a win in nine league matches.

“I said to the players at half-time, that if we weren’t going to get ourselves in a position to win it, then just don’t get beaten.

“When you’re playing against a team who have just been beaten 6-1 it can go one way or the other.

“The difference in this game was that we didn’t quite get the breaks during the opening 15 minutes when we had all the possession.

“We knew we wanted to try and test Bristol’s frailties, and we did that early on.

“We were a bit nervous in possession at times after that, and I know the group are capable of much better, but confidence levels do get affected when you don’t win games and score goals.

“We appreciate that now we’re here and clean sheets always give you a base to work from.

“The lads put their bodies on the line, they defended well, and there were lots of positives to take from the performance.

“We just wanted to play a little bit better as the game opened up but that will come with confidence.

“We’ve tried to emphasise about being expansive and more creative this week, but when you’ve not won many games, it does take time to rebuild confidence and get back to that level.

“Hopefully a win just around the corner will get that confidence and belief back into the group soon.”

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