Fleetwood Town defensive duo have impressed head coach

The Cod Army posted a 2-1 win against Plymouth Argyle at Highbury, bouncing back from defeat at Port Vale seven days earlier.

It saw Earl handed a first start in a new position, featuring alongside Toto Nsiala in the centre of defence.

As the head coach explained, it’s a change of role with which the 23-year-old is more than happy.

Brown said: “Josh Earl was calm on the ball, defended his box really well.

“He’s played a number of positions for Preston. He was a left wing-back and played left-back, he wants to be a left-sided centre-half and today’s performance shows he can do that.

“It’s hard to play in a two when you’re not used to that but it’s an understanding of the game that he’s got now.

“He just has to keep pushing his levels. We’ve set demands of him, we’ve got expectations of what we expect from a centre-half.

“Now he’s hitting them and that’s why he’s in the team: he’s been working on everything we’ve asked him to do.”

On the right-hand side of the back four, Rooney was an energetic presence before being replaced late on by Carl Johnston.

The 25-year-old was the first signing made by Brown after he was announced as the club’s new head coach in May.

The former St Johnstone defender has made a positive impression upon his new boss during the summer.

“Roons, since he’s come in, has been fantastic,” Brown added.

“His technical ability is definitely improving. You see the difference in him: he’s happy to be here, he wants to be here.

“We were delighted to sign him. I know he had a lot of options, especially in Scotland as well, but to get someone of that quality and that urgency when he gets the ball: his energy levels are next to none.

“He was out for a couple of weeks, so cramp kicks in and you don’t want to keep him running through that because he ends up pulling muscles.

“Roons has been a proper pro, he sets standards and I want players following it.”