Fleetwood Town manager's optimism following Accrington Stanley draw

Fleetwood Town boss Simon Grayson is continuing to take the positives after they drew against play-off chasers Accrington Stanley.
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Town have only won one of their last 14 league matches after drawing 1-1 at Highbury on Saturday.

Wes Burns’ goal gave them a point, though they did spurn a great chance to win the game late on when substitute Josh Morris saw a penalty saved by Stanley keeper Nathan Baxter.

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“That’s what you expect when you play Accrington,” said an upbeat Grayson after his players created numerous chances against John Coleman’s side.

Wes Burns scores Fleetwood Town's goal on Saturday Picture: Stephen Buckley/PRiME Media Images LimitedWes Burns scores Fleetwood Town's goal on Saturday Picture: Stephen Buckley/PRiME Media Images Limited
Wes Burns scores Fleetwood Town's goal on Saturday Picture: Stephen Buckley/PRiME Media Images Limited

“They like to get forward, get bodies forward and attack, but looking back, I think it’s another game that we’ve played well in.

“We looked after the ball well, created some good chances, but when you miss a penalty late in the game like that, you perhaps know it’s not going to be your day.

“There’s lots of positives to take. When they threw things at us we defended really well, but also looked like we were going to score goals.

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“We probably didn’t show that side to us at Sunderland in midweek, but there were a lot of pleasing points for me when up against a really strong Accrington side.

“We’re working hard and moving the ball quite decently.

“It’s about getting the breaks again. It’s fine margins, I’ve spoken about that quite a lot since I’ve been here.

“If you finish the penalty – and that’s no slight on Josh because he wanted to take it and it was a good save from the keeper – we’ll have had something to hang on to.

“It wasn’t to be despite, overall, it being a good game from both teams.”

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It was the third home game in a row where Town had overturned a deficit in order to gain a result, following on from the draw with Charlton Athletic and victory against Doncaster Rovers.

“It’s a good characteristic to have,” said Grayson.

“Obviously we don’t want to be conceding goals, but if you do, you’ve got to have that strong mentality and believe that you can get back into the game as quickly as possible.

“There was a bit of freshness in the team today and some good individual performances, but ultimately, we wanted to win the game.”

Saturday’s match burst into life thanks to two goals in fewer than 90 seconds midway through the first half.

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Adam Phillips smashed home to give the visitors the lead, only for Burns to level from the tightest of angles.

Kyle Vassell and Burns went closest to firing Town in front before the break.

The woodwork saved Town shortly after the restart when Joe Pritchard hit the post, before Morris missed his golden chance in the 79th minute when Burns had been tripped by Cameron Burgess.

“Josh is a bit down obviously but we’ll pick him up and go again,” said Grayson.

“These things do happen of course, it’s only human nature.

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“You score penalties and you miss them. Obviously we’d love to have seen it go in, but it’s just one of those things.”

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