Fleetwood Town's Trophy tonic has lifted club ahead of Hull test says coach Barry Nicholson

Town face unbeaten Hull City at Highbury as they bid to halt a run of three successive defeats which have left the club in the bottom four.

But the EFL Trophy has provided a welcome pick-me-up as Tuesday’s 3-0 home win over Aston Villa’s Under-21s provided a hat-trick for Harvey Saunders, a first clean sheet of the season in any competition and a place in the next round with one group game still to play.

And Nicholson said: “Overall it was a really good performance. The first half was good, then the second was more about controlling the game and trying to keep a clean sheet.

“That’s what we wanted most and that will give everyone a boost going into Friday’s game.

“The intensity was there from the outset and that was really special. When you get a start like we had, you can control the game.”

And that display can only give head coach Joey Barton food for thought when it comes to selecting Friday’s team, particularly hotshot Saunders.

Nicholson added: “If you score a hat-trick you obviously come into the equation for playing the next game, so let’s see what the manager does.

“When you have a smaller squad, like we have at minute, and you don’t have the players in the building, it gives the younger players a chance to be involved in squads. It’s really up to them.

“They have to make sure they are at it every single day and they have to perform in front of the manager’s eyes, and a few of them have taken that opportunity tonight.”

As for the EFL Trophy, Nicholson’s target is clear: “We’ve got to try and win this competition,” he said.

“We’ve got one game left against Sunderland now and then you’ve got to go for it.

“We’ve been close in the past and not quite made it to Wembley.

“It’s certainly something for some of our kids to aspire to – to play at Wembley at the end of the tournament.”