I won't judge Cole on goals, says Fleetwood boss

Fleetwood head coach Uwe Rosler says he is not judging Devante Cole on goals but on what the young striker contributes to the team.
Devante ColeDevante Cole
Devante Cole

Cole has netted only once this season, in last month’s Checkatrade Trophy win over Blackburn, but impressed off the bench in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Peterborough and set up Town’s second for Bobby Grant.

Rosler hopes that win will have boosted all his players’ confidence ahead of tonight’s visit to Chesterfield.

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He said: “I had a 20-minute talk with Devante on Saturday. It was not always positive things.

“I know Devante from when I was a coach at Manchester City.

“Devante was very effective for us for seven or eight games and not a lot of people saw what he contributed. When we played three up front he was unbelievable – athleticism, work rate, pressurising. He won the ball for four or five goals.

“Then he dropped his mentality, his focus. But not only him – we dropped as a group.

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“Now it is all about refocusing him and the group, and getting a little bit of belief and confidence. The best thing is that confidence comes with three points.

“Devante is a good kid, like Ash Hunter and Alex Jakubiak – three young talented players but sometimes we need to put them on the right track again.

“I said to Devante, ‘I judge you not on goals. I judge you on what you contribute. You put the bar so high in the first seven games and have high numbers in terms of sprint, high-intensity runs and mileage covered.

“That is important for me because with Chris Long, Ash Hunter, David Ball and Alex Jakubiak I have enough goalscorers. I needed Devante to compliment the other players and he did that very effectively against Peterborough.”