Pressley hails most complete Town performance

Steven Pressley hailed Fleetwood Town’s most complete performance since his arrival after they demolished Swindon 5-1 at Highbury.
Loan heroes Henen and Fosu celebrate with manager PressleyLoan heroes Henen and Fosu celebrate with manager Pressley
Loan heroes Henen and Fosu celebrate with manager Pressley

Adam El-Abd’s own goal kicked off the scoring, Antoni Sarcevic doubling the advantage from the penalty spot.

Loan duo David Henen and Tariq Fosu added to the Fleetwood tally before Bobby Grant’s left- foot stunner made it a fantastic five.

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Nicky Ajose’s equaliser for the visitors was ultimately a mere consolation, albeit one which irked the Fleetwood boss, as Town leapfrogged their opponents and climbed out of the League One drop zone.

Pressley said: “It was an outstanding result and an outstanding performance.

“Since I’ve come to the club, it was our most complete performance.

“I spoke last week about our level of performance, particularly in the second half. But that was after two games in which we’d performed really well against top teams but only for 45 minutes. This was a performance over 90 minutes.

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“We played with such intensity, such purpose and a lot of belief, and we were really exciting to watch.”

Fleetwood, inspired by Fosu and Henen, were a huge threat around the box. And Pressley believes Town could have crushed the Robins by an even bigger margin.

“The game was 5-1 but the reality was it could have been nine or 10,” he said.

“The reality is that when the supporters come here they want to see players playing with that real intent. I was delighted.

“The only downside for me was that we lost the goal.

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“I said after the game that we have to keep driving standards and it has to be 5-0, not 5-1.

“But I’ll settle for the win. Wins give you confidence and the manner of that win will give our players real confidence.”

The hosts might have been two up within the first five minutes, Henen twice getting in behind the Robins.

And Pressley was delighted to see his side keep that fire burning, despite their early frustration.

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He said: “We had two or three really good moments, one to one moments early on in the game.

“We could have settled the game, not in terms of the result but in terms of getting a real foothold.

“I was just really proud of them. We never dropped that level of intensity. That was vital. We showed a real pride in what we did.”

Fleetwood have a crucial week ahead, and Pressley is desperate to see his side find consistency and bed themselves into mid-table.

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With Millwall visiting tomorrow, he won’t let any minds turn to Saturday’s derby date with Blackpool.

He continued: “I’m proud of the players but you can only enjoy that result for 20 minutes. We’ve got Millwall to look forward to now.

“We have to make sure we give a similar kind of performance and get the result.”

“If you look beyond the next fixture you’re in trouble. That’s all we must not do, especially in the predicament we are in.

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“Being out of the bottom four is a huge boost but we have to stay out.

“We’ll only do that with positive results, positive performances and gaining three points.”

Pressley has certainly got Fleetwood playing a higher intensity game, their pressing outstanding. Swindon had more possession over the 90 minutes but were no allowed to turn it into clear chances.

Pressley doesn’t want to see standards slip. He said: “We worked really hard all week on the press, on how we were going to pressurise them.

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“It’s really pleasing as a manager when the players get it right.

“They can only do that if they do their tasks and to a man they were outstanding.

“But I don’t want us to get complacent. I’ve said before that we take steps forward and then we take steps back.

“This is a week when we can really show our intent. We’ve two massive games and we have to make sure we don’t falter from the standards we have set.

“When we’ve looked like we can gain momentum and get back-to-back results, we’ve faltered.

“We have to show we have the mentality, the belief to do that because consistency will be the key.”