Fleetwood Town return to Blue Square North action tonight at Northwich Victoria on the back of last Friday’s FA Trophy victory at Chester City at the Deva Stadium.
Town's Trophy campaign started with a home win against the Vics last month and manager Micky Mellon says the Cheshire club will be looking to put that result behind them.
“The FA Trophy game was a difficult one to win against Northwich and they will be a different proposition at home in the league. They’ll still be smarting from us turning them over at Highbury. That means we will have to be at our best.”
Mellon said the Chester result, coupled with a good training session on Monday when everybody pulled through, has left his team in good spirits.
“They are generally a confident bunch of lads. What we have to make sure is that confidence goes hand in hand with focus and determination when we go to Northwich.”
Despite finding themselves in 8th spot due to FA Cup and FA Trophy duty, Mellon feels his side have the quality to push back into contention.
“We are looking forward to getting back into league action and narrowing the gap. Our form speaks for itself and we’ve produced some good results against good teams over the last few months. I’ll take two defeats in twenty games and that includes Northampton Town. Our approach is one game at a time and that is something we must do as important games are coming up over Christmas.”
Vics will be without Jonny Allan (knee), who has tendonitis and may be missing until the end of next month. Michael Connor (ankle) sat out last weekend's win at Gloucester and is a slight doubt too. Fringe player Sean Taylforth (groin) is unlikely to be in the reckoning either. Junior Brown has had flu but should be fit to play.
Turning to Monday’s FA Trophy draw, the manager is pleased with the home tie against Blue Square South Dover Athletic.
“You are never going to receive an easy tie at this stage of the FA Trophy but a home game is a boost. Dover play in our sister, southern league and are riding high with confidence. They will come to Fleetwood and expect a difficult game. It’s our job not to disappoint them.”
