Madden: Fleetwood Town squad cannot start sulking

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The 27-year-old Irishman netted his third since his January switch from Scunthorpe in the 2-1 defeat to League One leaders Shrewsbury on Tuesday night.

That was Fleetwood’s sixth straight defeat and now, just two points above the drop zone, they head to Doncaster Rovers, who lie just three points higher.

And, as Madden bids to shake off an ankle knock, he is not taking anything for granted.

He said: “It will be tough, they are in a similar position to ourselves so it will be a tough one, we need to really do something to get out of this and start a little run of our own.

“You just have to keep your head up in this league.

“If you feel sorry for yourself in this league nothing is going to turn around.

“You just have to keep going, we have a good bunch of lads in there with good characters that they know how to get out of this little rut that we are in.

“We just have to keep going and the luck will turn.”

And Madden believes a good run is just around the corner as they bid to end the six-game losing spell at the Keepmoat Stadium.

He said: “We are looking over our shoulders a bit but I think every team goes through a bad spell.

“We are just hitting ours now and individual mistakes are getting punished.

“On another day we get away with those mistakes but we are just going through a bad spell at the minute, a good spell will come and I’m sure it will be fine.”

Madden has had an electric start to life at Highbury with three goals and two assists but the 27-year-old says points – rather than personal glory – are all that matters to him.

Speaking on his start he said: “Three goals and two assists in five games not that I’m counting!

“I’m a bit of a counter!

“They mean nothing to me now, the Southend ones mean something because we got the three points but Tuesday means nothing because we lost so I won’t be celebrating.”

Elsewhere, Town youngsters Luke Higham and Harrison Holgate have joined FC United and Stalybridge Celtic on loan respectively.

Higham – who joined from Blackpool last summer – has featured in Paul Murray’s development squad this season, and has joined FC United on loan until March 12.

Central defender Holgate – who is a key member of Nathan Rooney’s under 18s side – has joined Celtic on a standard youth loan until the end of the season.