Town appoint Pressley

The former Coventry and Falkirk boss joins on a two-year deal.

He will watch from the stands tonight as Town take on Shrewbury Town in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, his first full game in charge will be on Saturday when the Sky Blues visit Highbury.

Chairman Andy Pilley said Pressley had ‘stood out’ from the start of the recruitment process.

He said: “I think Steven has done remarkably well in very difficult circumstances in his time at Falkirk and Coventry.

“At Falkirk he had to deal with a reduced budget but managed to get the club to a strong position twice in the Scottish Championship.

“He got them to the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup.

“At Coventry he went from difficult circumstances to extraordinarily difficult.

“We’re talking about a transfer embago and administration, a club that had to play home games at a different stadium.

“Under all those circumstances to get as many points as he did - they would have finished ninth but for the deduction.

“In those very very difficult circumstances I think it was an outstanding achievement.

“He also managed to bring a number of players through into the first team and sell some players.

“My thought process is these guys have done so well under difficult circumstances, how well can they do with the fantastic backing they will have.

“We like to give people a chance at Fleetwood.

“We’ll do everything we can to make sure it’s a success, I’m convinced it will be a success.”

Pressley will watch from the stands as Fleetwood take on Shrewsbury Town tonight.

His first game in charge will be against former club Coventry.

And Pressley made clear what a significant occasion that will be.

He said: “”It’s incredible isn’t it, absolutely incredible,

“I’ve got great memories there, a fantastic raport.

“We came through some unbelievably challenging moments there.

“It’s a great football club, we had some great people.

“It has a great fanbase and I’m delighted to see they’ve started the season in the fashion they have.

“We worked tirelessly, we had to cut the budget by 60 per cent, we had to bring in young players, we put a lot of practices in place and I’m delighted to see that work being carried on by Tony (Mowbray).”

Pressley made it clear he would not be immediately ringing the changes at Highbury, despite Town sitting second bottom of League One.

He doesn’t know much about the squad but is ready to learn - starting this evening.

He said: “I’ve looked from afar, I haven’t seen Fleetwood this season.

“I’ve been working with Southampton on a scouting basis and Scotland, with the younger players.

“I’ll get a chance to watch from the stand tonight.

“But from previous seasons and doing our work during the time down here we’re aware of the players.

“I want to give them the best chance.

“We’ll not be going out and signing players immediately.

“I want to give everybody a chance and I think that’s important.

“I want to see what we can do with the current group.

“We pride ourselves on maximising the resource.

“They group need to be ready because we’ll work them very hard, it will be intense.

“The group need to be ready because we are demanding and they will be expected to train every single day at their maximum.

“They will be put under pressure to perform.”