Joey Barton ponders Fleetwood options for the League One 'marathon'

In common with teams across the land, Town are figuring out how to deal with a congested fixture list.

Now in his third season of management in League One, Barton is aware of the division’s demands and had the long haul in mind when putting together his squad.

He said: “We’ll assess them and see how their bodies are and that’s the beauty of it.

“It’s a marathon this League One campaign, especially when you look at the fixture list.

“We’re Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday for as far as the eye can see with the cup competitions.

“It’ll give everyone a chance. Everyone has had a look in so far. I’d used 22 players before the last round of fixtures and we built this squad with that in mind.

“It is a marathon. It is a long, hard, physical season in this division and you need to have strength in depth to be able to deal with the physicality of trying to compete and win every single game.

“I was able to make some changes against Shrewsbury. Couttsy (Paul Coutts) came back in after a bit of rest and I thought he was outstanding, the best player on the park.

“Mark Duffy got his start. He’d been training really well, chomping at the bit, and we felt it was the kind of game for him.

“Whelo’s (Glenn Whelan) been carrying a few knocks and niggles, and (Callum) Camps has played a load of minutes.

“Lo and behold, Tets (Jay Matete) comes off and you have to put Whelo in around the hour mark to give you that bit of composure and knowhow to get the job done.”

As Barton acknowledged, Jay Matete’s midweek outing was brought to a premature end.

The 19-year-old (left) is awaiting the result of a scan to see if he will be available tomorrow.

Barton said: “In the challenge with (Oliver) Norburn, he felt his hip flexor and as a young player he’s disappointed, he’d never, ever, want to leave the pitch but we couldn’t take the chance. It could have got worse.

“We’re hoping it’s days rather than weeks because Jay’s just got in the first team and is playing well. He gave a great account of himself.

“Hopefully it is just days but he’s been taken off with his longevity in mind.

“The last thing you want to do with a young player is keep pushing him and it then goes from a minor injury to something much worse.”

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