Next Up: Fleetwood Town at Home
It seemed a long time in coming, but Tuesday night saw both a victory and a clean sheet, which will have provided a major boost to City’s confidence. Paul Tisdale showed his attacking intent in naming two strikers plus a utility forward in Alan Gow for the visit of AFC Wimbledon, but with Fleetwood something of a different proposition it remains to be seen whether the line-up will be as bold on Saturday.
You’d be forgiven for looking at the fixture list, seeing City paired up with Fleetwood Town and wondering, well, just who the heck they are. Two seasons ago the side from near Blackpool were plying their trade in Conference North but, under the astute stewardship of Chairman Andy Pilley (for stewardship read “big wallet!”) the “Cod Army” went straight through the Conference and into the Football League at the first attempt, and show no sign of stopping there, currently lying in fourth place in the League Two table. Such is their financial clout they were linked with a loan move for Joey Barton during the summer, and have just signed the ex-Scotland captain Barry Ferguson on loan from their near neighbours. He will team up with the behemoth that is Jon Parkin, the bulging striker leading the scoring charts with six in all competitions, edging out Junior Brown with five and ex-Colchester frontman Steven Gillespie with four. At the back is ex-Derby defender Youl Mawene.
Not surprisingly, given Fleetwood were formed at roughly 4:30 last Tuesday, this is the first meeting between the sides.