My Fleetwood side won't be lambs to the slaughter against Everton says Joey Barton

Barton has few options to rotate his squad for Town’s first-ever tie in the third round of the League Cup, their third midweek game this month.

But the boyhood Evertonian has faith in the fitness of his squad ahead of the Sky-televised tie. He feels no pressure and welcomes the opportunity to pull off a giantkilling.

Barton, 38, said: “We’ve had a period of time off and lads are fit to play.

“We still need bodies. I still think we’re four or five away, which we’re hoping to move on in the weeks before the window shuts.

“We’ve got some young players who are going to be given a great opportunity to play against some top players, so it will help in their development. If we lose a game to Everton I don’t think that’s going to be any disgrace. We’ve got an opportunity to kill Goliath.

“If we get beat, everyone will go, ‘Yeah, Everton should beat Fleetwood in the cup’, so it’s a chance to create a bit of history, a chance to do something you will remember for your whole career. And if you don’t do it, no-one’s going to hold it against you. It’s not like you’ll regret not knocking Everton out.”

Barton is under no illusions as to the quality of Carlo Ancelotti’s men – Bernard, Michael Keane, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Theo Walcott all started against Salford City in the last round.

Barton added: “They’re going to be overwhelming favourites and will have the lion’s share of

possession.

“We will have to defend our goal on multiple occasions, but if we’re disciplined, do it properly and are structured, we have players who can cause them problems. We can cause them problems from set-plays and on the counter-attack.

“We’re not coming into it like lambs to the slaughter. We have a plan, an idea of how we want to go about it and it will be interesting if the lads can execute it under pressure.

“For us, it’s a real bonus and it gives us a bit of revenue from Sky at a time when it’s needed. Every penny at this time is vital at our level. We’re under a salary cap and we’ve no fans in – it’s tough. Getting on Sky gives us a few quid that we never had.

“Win or lose it’s a good experience for the club. We have players who will learn what it’s like to play against top players, so it’s win, win for us.”