Fleetwood Town veteran backs Stephen Crainey's appointment

Crainey was appointed earlier in the week and Clarke feels it is a deserved reward for the impact he has had during an initial interim spell at the helm.

He has won two of his last three games in charge and has now had that arrangement extended until the end of the season.

Clarke feels that the Scot is demanding of the Cod Army and they are responding to it.

He said: “It’s very much deserved.

“He’s come in, set what he’s about, set his demands and how he wants to play with clear messages.

“He’s taken to it very well. I’ve seen him around the training ground a lot, working with the younger group, and I’d spoken to him a little bit.

“Him and Barry Nicholson have taken to it really well.

“There are high demands which are put on the players but it is good. The lads are responding really well.”

Town are scheduled to be back in action on Boxing Day with Shrewsbury Town making the trip to Highbury this weekend.

Town go into the game 18th in the table with 22 points, the same as their opponents who sit 20th in the division.

Clarke feels that Fleetwood have shown in recent weeks that they are good enough to be away from relegation trouble.

He said: “You look at it every week and they are key fixtures but they are in and around us.

“They’ve had a few good results but we’re full of confidence, we’re at home, so we’ll be looking to build on what we’ve done previously.

“We’ll keep putting those demands on each other, we’ll keep pushing each other and keep looking to get the best out of each other.

“Hopefully the results will follow. Our results recently show we’re better than where we are.

“Even the other week at Morecambe, which is a tough place to go, I thought we were the better team even though we are a young group.

“We dealt with it well and had the better chances.

“We see it as a missed opportunity but it just shows where we are, I think.

“We’re a team that needs to be pushing higher.

“It’s alright saying that but we need to do it in the games coming up and, hopefully, we can carry on the run that we’re on.”

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