Fleetwood Town boss warns of hard work ahead

Fleetwood Town boss Joey Barton says more work needs to be done as they embark on their pre-season tour of Hungary.
Joey BartonJoey Barton
Joey Barton

Barton and his squad flew out to Budapest on Sunday on the back of a 3-1 training game victory over Southport and Friday’s 4-0 win over National League side Salford City.

In those games Barton can already see the signs of improvement in the areas he prioritised when training started on June 18.

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They picked up a clean sheet at Salford and scored from set-piece situations with Craig Morgan and Joe Maguire netting against Southport and Paddy Madden scoring from Jason Holt’s corner at Salford.

Jason Holt's set piece delivery set up a goal last weekJason Holt's set piece delivery set up a goal last week
Jason Holt's set piece delivery set up a goal last week

Conor McAleny found the net in both friendlies with youngsters Ashley Nadesan and Harrison Biggins also on target against Salford.

A 26-man squad travelled to Hungary on Sunday with two-games scheduled during their week away.

Barton said: “I’m a little bit disappointed we conceded to Southport but that is probably the perfectionist in me.

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“Billy Crellin (keeper), we wanted to get him back out on Friday night; he showed he has learned those lessons.

“He looked calm and composed and it is important for us to keep clean sheets because then it allows what we saw afterwards, all of the talented forward players going and showcasing their abilities.

“We put four goals past what will be a very good Conference side next season.

“They have ambitions to get out of the league and they are no mugs by any stretch of the imagination.

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“We have done more defensive structure, restart structure and set plays because we felt that was a bone of contention for the team last year.

“We have worked at them, we have got lots of work to do on them but we already look much better.”

The goals and calm possession football are positives for Barton but he is not getting carried away.

He said: “The first-half side (against Salford) grew into the game and got better.

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“The boys who came on took the level up again.It is really pleasing; the goals, the patience, the calm, the possession and football that we played – very encouraging.

“But as I say, it is very early doors, we have a lot of work to do. Hungary is an opportunity to do that and I cannot wait to get back on the training field and get that little bit better every day if we can.”