Rosler reveals Fleetwood star he'd hate to play against

The former Barcelona youth player joined the club last November but has not yet managed to force his way into Rosler’s starting line-up on a regular basis.

But the Nigeria-born 22-year-old did his chances of featuring against Oldham this Saturday no harm with a man of the match performance and a goal in Town’s 3-0 Checkatrade Trophy win over Leicester Under-21s last Tuesday.

It was Godswill’s first-ever Town strike, and when asked if there is one player in his current squad he would not want to play against Rosler said that player was Godswill.

The Town boss, who played for Manchester City and Southampton, says that while Godswill may not yet be playing every week, the determined young defender’s impact on his training sessions has not gone unnoticed.

Town head coach Rosler said: “Godswill Ekpolo is a very tenacious defender.

“I don’t think I go overboard when I say that on the ground he is probably our best one-to-one defender at the club.

“You know you have those players you always get hurt with – there is a knee in the thigh or an elbow in the face. They don’t do it on purpose but it’s just that you always get hurt.

“And when Devante Cole sees Godswill Ekpolo, I know that Devante does not fancy that one!

“That is because Godswill (left) only knows one way to play football and that is why I like him.

“The boy has a tremendous attitude. The only way he knows is full power every single day.

“He is an unsung hero because not a lot of people see him every Saturday out there, but I see him every day in training and he keeps the level high in training.

“He is pushing other people to train hard and does that every single day.

“He sets the standards really high, and as a coach I value those qualities because as a group of players and as a football club we need to train well every day in order to play well.

“We are not going to just turn up on a Friday and do a little bit to win at the weekend.

“We are extremely hard-working and it is good for your club to have someone like Godswill in there.”

Fleetwood have slipped to eighth in League One, a place below Blackpool, after last weekend’s scheduled fixture at Blackburn was postponed.