Fleetwood Town shot-stopper targets a brighter future at Highbury

The 29-year-old has been a part of two play-off campaigns at Highbury across his six years with the club.

This season, however, has seen the club at the wrong end of the table as they sit 19th, two points clear of the bottom four, going into today’s trip to Portsmouth.

Town have been beset by injuries and, according to Cairns, senior players have kept the dressing room together as new arrivals and younger players have been drafted in.

He said: “We’re in this position now because we’ve not been good enough over the course of the season, but in the same breath, we have been unlucky.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more injury-hit season than this season, especially to key players who are massive for the changing room.

“It has been a difficult year but one where the likes of me, Danny Andrew and Tom Clarke have been trying to keep the players as close together as we can.

“We demand standards of the younger lads or the newer lads coming in, and try to push those standards.

“We’re all trying to get to the right place, we don’t want to be in a relegation scrap, that’s not what this club is about. We’re trying to go somewhere.

“At this moment in time, we’re looking at every game to try and get the three points. The three points have been there for us, we just haven’t had enough of them.”

Having become Town’s record EFL appearance maker, Cairns has another milestone in sight.

He is set to play his 199th game this afternoon and his 200th against Wigan Athletic on Tuesday.

“I just keep ticking these off don’t I? It’s a nice feeling,” he said.

“Before I came to Fleetwood, I was looking for a permanent home to develop and show what I can do.

“Fleetwood have been that for me, they have been a football club to let me show what I am about: not just in this division but hopefully in the future years and into the Championship.

“It has been a massive part of my development, a massive part of my learning of how football works and I owe quite a lot to this football club for sticking with me through thick and thin.

“I am looking forward to repaying that over the next few months to make sure that we’re in this division and we’re progressing for the future.”

Thanks for reading. If you value what we do and are able to support us, a digital subscription is just £1 per month for the first two months. Try us today by clicking here