Joey Barton delighted with determined Fleetwood display to hold Portsmouth

The Cod Army built on Saturday’s 1-0 win at Swindon with another strong display and they deserved some reward for a committed performance.

It could have been even better for Fleetwood, with defender Charlie Mulgrew left frustrated in the last minute of normal time when his close-range header was somehow kept out by keeper Craig MacGillvray.

Head coach Barton said: “Off the back of going to Swindon on Saturday, having no training in between, then getting back on the bus again on Monday and coming all the way to Portsmouth, I’m delighted.

“That’s three clean sheets in the last four and four points from two tough away games to keep us in the chasing pack. I’m really pleased with how we’ve done in the last few days.

“If we’d won it at the end with Charlie’s header it would have been the cherry on the top of a really good team performance but credit to their goalkeeper.

"He had made an outstanding save in the first half and produced the goods again to make sure they got their point.”

Although Cod Army keeper Jayson Leutwiler had to make a couple of good saves in the first half, he was given solid protection by his team-mates and Barton was delighted with the defensive effort put in by his whole team.

“Defensively it was a really disciplined performance," he added. "We asked guys who are more known for the offensive part of their game to put in a shift and they did that.

“We knew with their quality that we’d be under pressure at times and it was the same on Saturday.

"But in both games I have seen some really good signs and something we can build on."

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