Fleetwood Town defender is happy to help his younger team-mates

Danny Andrew is enjoying the responsibility of starting the season as the senior player in the Fleetwood Town backline - but he believes all defenders have a leadership role to play.
Fleetwood Town's Danny AndrewFleetwood Town's Danny Andrew
Fleetwood Town's Danny Andrew

Town have lost the services of right-back Lewie Coyle as well as on-loan central defenders Lewis Gibson and Harry Souttar over the summer.

Teenage academy graduates James Hill and Harrison Holgate look likely to be paired in the heart of defence again when Wigan Athletic visit Highbury in the Carabao Cup this afternoon, having been praised by Joey Barton and Clint Hill for their displays in Tuesday’s EFL Trophy win at Carlisle United.

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At 29, Andrew appreciates there is additional responsibility on his shoulders out on the left, though he feels age is largely “irrelevant” to the role.

He said: “It puts the emphasis on using my knowledge and my game-time and experience to help them.

“It’s been a different challenge for me to have players with less experience than I have in defence. To take a leading role and trying to help them has helped me in my game as well.

“But I said to a couple of them that it doesn’t matter how old you are, you are going to be a leader at the back because that's where you see everything in front of you.

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“I said that ‘if you think I’m in the wrong position, tell me’. Age is completely irrelevant.”

But Andrew knows that seniority gives him responsibilities off the field as well.

He added: “You need to have little conversations to make sure the young boys are confident because they are your team-mates.

“It’s irrelevant how old you are and what clubs you’ve been at before - you are a footballer and are at this club for a reason. We are all in the same boat and in the same team to help each other.”

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Andrew could also share his experience of behind-closed-doors football, having played in both play-off semi-finals against Wycombe Wanderers in July among his 45 Town appearances last season.

“The games have a friendly feel because there are no fans and no atmosphere,” he said. “You can hear instructions from the touchline a lot more clearly - some you might not want to hear but you have no choice. You can’t hide.

“It helps the coaches to get instructions on but as players you have to make your own atmosphere. It will be nice to get the fans back and the support.”

Andrew, who rejoined the club last summer, believes the environment at Fleetwood will help the young players to grow fast, just as he has developed since first signing for the club six years ago.

“I’m a lot more mature personally,” he said

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“I have a completely different head on my shoulders now and probably look at things differently.

“But the club has changed so much too. First time I was here and we were training at Fylde Rugby Club. Now you probably won’t get a better training ground than ours in this league. It’s a good place to come in and work.”

He’s glad to be back at work after the “very weird” lockdown period, when players were initially told to stay away from the club for three weeks and ended up at home for 12.

Andrew says pre-season has felt more like normal, except with regular coronavirus testing.

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He said: “We’ve all been tested every Monday and Thursday but everything here is so clean you do feel safer, I guess.

“Previously you’d jump onto the physio’s table one after another, no questions asked. Now it's a lot cleaner.”