Fleetwood Town squad can thrive under pressure says boss Simon Grayson

The head coach feels that belief was demonstrated by their performance in front of a bumper crowd at Portman Road on Saturday, although they lost to Ipswich Town.

Grayson feels his side again showed that they can be competitive this season and that more can come from them.

Saturday’s loss dropped Town into the relegation zone, with almost a third of their League One season having elapsed. Nevertheless, they are only one point from safety and the division is so closely-contested that Town are within three points of Lincoln City in 15th.

Grayson’s players also have the best goal difference of any team outside the top 10. They have the same number of goals for and against after 13 matches, illustrating they haven’t been far off in games but have also been unable to convert their performances into results and points.

All of the club’s defeats so far have come by the odd goal and Grayson feels their league position does not tell the full story.

The head coach said: “Our organisation was really good, the players carried out the instructions we asked them to against a strong Ipswich team. They’ve got some fantastic players and they’re one of the favourites for the division.

“I think if anyone has watched us play, then they’ve seen how competitive we’ve been in this division in every game. The games that we’ve lost this season have been by one goal, so nobody’s giving us a drubbing or anything like that.

“With over 20,000 there (at Ipswich), we stood up, answered a lot of questions and we played some good stuff.”

“We certainly didn’t buckle under the pressure of a big crowd and obviously we moved the ball well.”

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