Fleetwood Town entertain Gainsborough Trinity on Saturday in Blue Square North and one or two old friendships will be renewed.
Amongst them will be Town left-back Alan Wright and Trinity boss Brian Little who were involved with Aston Villa together in the mid-90s.
Then Villa manager Little signed the defender from Blackburn Rovers for £1m and started an 8 year career, and over 250 appearances, at Villa Park for the former Seasider.
“It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen Brian and I’m looking forward to seeing him again. We first made contact when he signed me from Blackburn Rovers back in 1995. I enjoyed my time at Villa and Brian came across as a nice bloke. He always had time for you and I have the upmost respect for him. He took me to Aston Villa and gave me a second chance after a period when I didn’t figure regularly for Blackburn. He gave me the opportunity to play in the Premier League again and I can’t thank him enough.
“Our paths have crossed since Villa. It’s a strange one really. You tend to loose contact with people in the game when one of you moves on. I know he went on to other things at places like Stoke and Wrexham. Hopefully, we can reacquaint ourselves on Saturday.”
Wright, 37, feels Blue Square clubs are able to attract big name former managers and plays sides manage to attract people who have managed or played at the top level?
There are that many people with quality backgrounds applying for jobs in the league. Some will want to try and stay in the Football League but others will end up coming out of that system and into the Conference to continue their careers either as managers or players. The quality of football is better than many believe and the Conference is a good ply your trade.
“I want to continue playing football. The challenge of the game makes me want to play and I remain enthusiastic about my football. Fleetwood Town offer me the opportunity to continue in the game.”
Turning to the Blue Square North, the defender has used his experience to guide Fleetwood to a 4th placed spot with twenty points from eleven games. Wright feels the league position is an accurate reflection of the good start made by the Highbury outfit.
“We’ve had a couple of games were points have been dropped at the likes of Hyde and Vauxhall where we should have taken something. We consider ourselves one of the best teams in the league and we let ourselves down in those games. Beyond that we’ve acquitted ourselves quit well and our position is more or less where we want to be. I don’t think we’ve play as well as we can do at times. Once we get into our stride then it’s going to be a wake up for the Blue Square North. I don’t think we’ll walk away in the league but we’ll be one the team to catch.”
Wright can point to a number of reasons why away form has not match home results but feels those issues have now been addressed by Micky Mellon.
“One of the main problems we have is the inconsistency of playing surfaces in the league. We know Highbury is a fantastic surface and allows us to play our game. When we go away then we become not quite as resilient. We need to battle out 1-0 wins or draws and be more solid. It’s been spoken about as a team and the general consensus is the need for doggedness and being tighter away from home. Picking up points when we shouldn’t is key.”
Fleetwood have been enjoying four-figure crowds at Highbury and Wright says he has settled in at the club.
“To be fair the support has been good. I get on with everybody at the club and the supporters have been fine with me. The football is enjoyable and Highbury is a good place to be at the moment.”
