Joey Barton urges Fleetwood to kick on after Doncaster win

Posted Sunday, February 02, 2020 by PA

Fleetwood manager Joey Barton has urged his team to build on an impressive 2-1 victory against Doncaster.

Goals from Ched Evans and Harry Souttar lifted Town back into play-off contention, leaving them five points off the top six in League One.

After his side notched a first home win since November, Barton said: “We’ve got to build on this performance now.

“Doncaster are a really good side. Darren Moore has gone in there after managing in the Premier League and the Championship, and he’s got a good team full of experienced players.

“They were deservedly above us in the table before today’s game, but it was important for us to get back to winning ways in front of our fans.

“It was a day for doing the basics superbly, though, and we’ve scored two goals from set-plays, so the three points taste really nice.

“We have added a bit of size to the team in the transfer window, and that’s helped.

“We don’t have huge finances, but we are a work in progress. We’ve still got lots of work to do, but we have got those reinforcements in now and that gives us a lovely platform.”

Fleetwood started well, with Souttar’s early effort being headed off the line by Tom Anderson.

They struck the opener 10 minutes before the break. Josh Morris’ in-swinging corner kick was met by skipper Evans, and though his initial close-range strike was saved by Seny Dieng, the Fleetwood striker lashed the rebound home.

Defender Souttar made it 2-0 in the 49th minute, poking home from 10 yards after Rovers failed to clear Danny Andrew’s free-kick into the box.

Rovers soon halved the deficit when Niall Ennis fired home from an angle after Kieran Sadlier’s initial strike was blocked, but it was not enough.

Boss Darren Moore was unsurprisingly disappointed, particularly with his side’s defending.

“We’re all disappointed back there of course,” said Moore.

“To lose a game to two set-plays is frustrating for us. We could have done better with both goals.

“It was a very stop-start game from start to finish really. I thought Fleetwood did their best to try and slow the game down when they were in front.

“They were conceding silly free-kicks and taking their time when they had free-kicks. Fleetwood paid us a lot of respect, and we have to take something from that.

“They couldn’t match our intensity at times, but at the end of the day we’ve not made the most of our chances.

“We played through Fleetwood, we played around them, but that final touch was lacking today.

“We needed to finish better, and on another day, we would have done.”