Stephen Crainey craves more clean sheets for Fleetwood Town

The clean sheet in Tuesday’s 3-0 win over Bolton Wanderers was only Town’s second of the season.

The other came in mid-October, when Crewe Alexandra were beaten by the same score, and Fleetwood won none of the 11 games between those shut-outs.

Town are an outlier in the League One relegation zone – their goal difference is at least 10 better than that of the clubs around them.

Putting the ball in the net has not been an issue but keeping it out has.

And after his first clean sheet since taking charge, Crainey is looking for a second when Gillingham visit Highbury this afternoon.

The Scot said: “That’s massive. Hopefully for the backline and the whole group, keeping clean sheets breeds confidence.

“Generally, we’ll always score goals with the players we have on the pitch but if we keep that back-door locked, like on Tuesday, then hopefully we can get some more points on the board.

“We don’t just defend as a back five or a back six, we want everyone to be connected when we do not have the ball.

“We need a real structure that is difficult to beat and I feel we have done that.”

No midweek injuries mean Crainey will have the same players available this afternoon.

Gillingham are often touted as a direct side under Steve Evans but Crainey feels they are able to switch up their game around.

He said: “They’ve got a nice balance. They can go direct and play some good football at times as well but we feel we can match them.

“The lads need to implement the plan and put a stamp on the game. Hopefully we’ll come out with three points.

“We know it’s going to be a tough game. Whatever they throw at us we need to be ready for it. Our preparations will make us ready.

“This period can transform the season but we just want to take it game by game.

“We want to be ready physically and mentally, and produce the performance we did on Tuesday. We can do it but I just need more consistency from the group. I’m sure they can give it because they are a top group.”

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