Fleetwood Town new boy isn't taking a step into the unknown

The 29-year-old’s arrival was announced yesterday, hours before the club also revealed the departure of Conor McLaughlin.

Nsiala joined the Cod Army from Ipswich Town on a free transfer and is available for selection against Rotherham United today.

He had joined Ipswich in 2018, making 77 appearances for the club.

Fifteen of those had come this season, one of them being a 2-1 win against his new employers at Portman Road in October.

That game left a lasting impression on the new boy, who is looking forward to hitting the ground running and having game time.

Nsiala said: “We played against them at home for Ipswich and I thought they were very good.

“I was very impressed by (Jay) Matete and the young midfielders, they were very good.

“I know the quality and Ellis (Harrison, Town striker) has told me there is a young winger that he said has got raw talent.

“I’m looking forward to playing with the lads. It really gets me excited to get stuck in. I just want to play games and enjoy my football.

“Most of the time I didn’t for different reasons but even the way it is with the staff, the coaches, the players, it’s just different.

“You can feel it’s a good place and I’m happy to be here.

“I’ve been in these positions before, near the bottom, and it’s not the same feeling that I’ve felt at different places.

“It’s not a team that’s near the bottom of the league with the positive feelings that I get from the place.

“I don’t see it as a big task to push ourselves on, we just need to concentrate on each game on its own.”

Nsiala had spoken briefly with his new boss, Stephen Crainey, before joining the Cod Army, though the conversation did not go entirely to plan.

He explained: “That was a funny conversation. He’s Scottish and it was a hard conversation!

“I didn’t hear some of the things he said because of the accent and I don’t think he heard some of the things I said.

“The phone call was a bit like ‘Yeah’, ‘Yeah,’ ‘See you later’.

“I could understand him better in person.

“I didn’t have a clue with some of the things he said. All I can remember is ‘I’ll catch you later big man’ and that was it!”

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