Barton ‘confident’ ahead of play-off
Fleetwood manager Joey Barton is “supremely confident” ahead of hosting Wycombe on Friday in the first leg of the Sky Bet League One play-off semi-finals.
The former Newcastle and Manchester City midfielder heaped praise on his players for the professionalism they showed during the suspension of sport in the UK.
At various points it seemed the third tier of English football may be decided on a points-per-game basis, but the play-offs have been allowed to go ahead and the Cod Army are three games from reaching the Championship.
Wycombe travel to Highbury Stadium tomorrow night before the second leg takes place at Adams Park on Monday and Barton cannot wait to do battle with Gareth Ainsworth’s side. He said: “You have to trust your players and trust your staff to know they are getting everything they need and I have nothing to fault. No one has cut any corners.
“Every single one has come back ahead of where they were at last pre-season and I don’t take that for granted. It is easy in the off-season to hear there will be no promotion or relegation and it would be easy as a player to lose focus and concentration.
“It is hard to keep training for 12 to 13 weeks when there is no guarantee at the end of it. You have to be incredibly motivated and hugely professional. If you haven’t been and you’ve not put in the running or gym session, when you are back to business those moments of weakness will be exploited. On the wall here it says ‘confidence comes from good preparation’ and we’re supremely confident because our preparation has been superb.”