Fleetwood's sights on Swedish defender

Fleetwood boss Steven Pressley may be set to boost his back line with the addition of a top-flight Swedish defender.
Steven PressleySteven Pressley
Steven Pressley

Pressley was thwarted in his attempts to recruit a centre-half on transfer deadline day, when striker Jamie Proctor’s free transfer to Bradford was the club’s only major piece of business.

But Town have taken two players on trial and Pressley is hopeful of a breakthrough in his bid to bolster Fleetwood at the back.

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The manager has made no secret of his desire to strengthen at centre-half.

“It was quiet on Monday,” he said. “But we have a player joining us this week for training and we have a Swedish centre-back over who has been identified by Gretar (Steinsson, technical director) as a potential player for us for the remainder of the season. We’ll work on those over the coming week.”

Pressley is particularly interested in the club’s Swedish guest, who has top-flight experience in Scandinavia.

“He’s not with a club,” the Fleetwood boss confirmed. “Their season finished a couple of months ago.

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“He’s been training and working out with another team. He’s a top-flight player. He’s got good pedigree, a good history.

“I’ve not seen him live but I’ve seen footage from a number of sources.

“Gretar is aware of the player. He’s done a lot of research and he’s one we’ll certainly consider.”

Town will be hoping for better news on the transfer front, having failed to seal a deal for a Championship defender on deadline day.

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For their manager, Monday was a typically chaotic climax to the transfer window.

“We had our sights on one or two but their availablity wasn’t there,” said Pressley. “In the end we’re satsified now and we’ll move forward. You can’t force it.

“Everybody wonders why clubs leave it to the last minute but there’s almost a domino effect. Everybody is holding off and one movement can spark it all.”

“It’s not ideal but we still have an opportunity with the loan window, which we won’t have next year. That will allow us to bring in one or two more if we need.”

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And with the loan window being scrapped from next season at the bidding of UEFA and FIFA, Pressley fears the chaos may only get worse.

He said: “I think it will probably become a far more aggressive deadline day than ever before.”

One thing the Fleetwood boss is looking forward to is a little stability in his group after the upheaval of Monday, which saw Lyle Della-Verde and Eddie D’sane depart as well as Proctor.

“I wish Jamie Proctor the best of luck,” he said. “I phoned him on Monday night and he seemed in good spirits. It’s a good opportunity for him over there.

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“But we have the squad now, pretty much available, bar one or two additions.

“We know what we want to do and the players know what they need to do, which is a good starting point.”

Town welcome Barnsley tomorrow for the second leg of their Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Northern Area Final, with the tie evenly poised at 1-1 after the Oakwell leg.

The winners will play Oxford United in the final at Wembley on April 3.

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The League Two side won the Southern Area final 2-1 on aggregate against Millwall despite losing last night’s home second leg to a Lee Gregory goal.

Kemar Roofe’s brace in the first leg at The Den had put Michael Appleton’s side in the driving seat.