Fleetwood Town close to kick-starting season says Simon Grayson ahead of Wigan test

Joe Garner and Shayden Morris staked their claim by coming off the bench to score goals which saw Town fight back for a 3-3 draw against Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday, when fellow substitute Paddy Lane also made an impact.

Fleetwood remain in the bottom three but have again proved they can compete with League One’s top sides – the Chairboys arrived at Highbury second in the table, as do Wigan tonight.

Head coach Grayson said: “Sometimes substitutions work and sometimes they don’t but we always say to players coming off the bench to go and affect the game, and all three of them did in different ways on Saturday.

“I took three players off who hadn’t done too much wrong but we changed it round and players have to be ready. On Tuesday it might be a completely different system and a different team.

“We’ve taken points off five of the top seven. We’ve done well against these teams and haven’t played too many teams in and around us. There’s a lot of belief and confidence in the group that we can get back-to-back results and kick-start our season.

“Losing to Burton was a bit of a kick in the teeth after beating Crewe but then you look at the next fixtures – Ipswich, Wycombe and Wigan on Tuesday, three of the teams who are in it for promotion.

“But we gave a good account of ourselves against Ipswich, when we should have got something. We did get something out of Saturday, so let’s go and get three points on Tuesday if we can.”

That belief has been boosted by the easing the Town’s injury problems, which gives Grayson selection options.

He added: “We’ve been hit by injuries but we’ve seen Tom Clarke and Callum Camps back on Saturday.

“We’ve missed people like Shayden, who has been out seven or eight weeks. He was on fire at the start of the season but we’ve got him and others back.

“We left a couple of lads left out of the 18 on Saturday who have been in the squad all season, Ryan Edmondson and Callum Johnson. They have done well and have been affecting the game.

“But it is a squad game. We’ve been tested in that respect over the past few weeks but a few more options is a nice headache to have rather than relying on the same players.”

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