Simon Grayson wants Fleetwood Town to build on belief from fightback against Sunderland

The Town boss is being forced to use the full depth in his squad due to injuries but he made tactical switches midway through their 2-2 draw with the Black Cats at Highbury.

Head coach Grayson felt his tweaks brought about a change in fortune and he praised the players on coming together to get the result.

He said: “We just felt that in the first half they were getting out of the full-back areas a little bit too easily, so we changed at half-time and went to a back four.

“Joe Garner came on and made a big difference with his physical presence, and his knowhow of the game and hold-up play.

“We went to 4-3-3 and later to 4-4-2 to try to get some more goals and ultimately we reaped the reward from that. Lots of people played a big part.

“It’s never easy when you take someone off at half-time (Max Clark) but we had to do it for the shape of the team and ultimately it helped us to get the result.”

Town extended their unbeaten run to five in all competitions when two late goals earned their draw with the high-flying Wearsiders.

Grayson wants to see more belief from his side and feels results like Saturday’s will help to instil that confidence.

He added: “When you look back and analyse their goals, we were disappointed with the first one because it’s clearly offside.

“Their penalty was a penalty because Harrison (Biggins) has pulled him back. For our penalty one of their players has pulled Callum Morton’s shirt – exactly what Harrison did for their penalty.

“Ours was in the last minute but we’d kept going and kept asking questions. We’d seen a couple cleared off the line.

“But again I’m pleased with the players’ attitude and performance. Our dressing room after the game was feeling like it was a win and Sunderland’s will have felt like a defeat because when you concede in the last minute that’s how it can be.

“We can take more belief from what we’ve done (in the last two games) because we’ve taken four points from two teams that will be pushing to be in the Championship next season.

“So a massive ‘well done’ to our players and let’s keep on this run we are on.

“We’ve got to keep believing, keep playing with a purpose and doing the right things.”

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