After a decent start to the season for Fleetwood, winning against Bury and Colchester in two of their opening three games, things quite rapidly declined for them. After that, six games without a win, which included a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Gillingham, caused them to part with manager Graham Alexander on the 30th September, while they were sat in 20th. On the 6th October they appointed former Coventry boss Steven Pressley as their new manager, and since his appointment they have won two and lost two, losing 1-0 to Coventry and 3-0 to Sheff Utd, but beating Burton 4-0 and beating Barnsley 1-0 last weekend. They currently sit in 20th, with 15 points and -4 GD from 15 games.
Dan Jones and Byron Harrison will miss out tomorrow, Jones being suspended after his sending off last week, and Harrison being out due to a knee injury. Tomorrow we will see the much needed return of defender Ian Evatt, who completed his suspension at the weekend, and we also have a new defensive option in Richard Wood, who has just arrived on loan from Rotherham. Saunders now has four centre backs to choose from, and with Hird being out of favour, and Raglan still learning, it is likely that we'll see Wood and Evatt in the two central defensive positions tomorrow. Since his return from the USA Olympic team, winger Gboly Ariyibi has been out of favour, for whatever reason, but we could see him return to action tomorrow after out lack lustre attacking performance last weekend. Tomorrow we won't have the pleasure of watching a midfield battle between Jimmy Ryan and Sam Morsy, as former Spireite Ryan is suspended due to picking up five yellows already so far this season. Other than that, there's no Fleetwood absentees.
Biggest threat: Robert Grant
The 25 year old versatile striker has been a vital part of Fleetwood's recent improved form. The former Accrington, Scunthorpe and Rochdale man can play either up top or in attacking midfield, and has been in fine goal scoring form recently. He has scored five so far this season, making him top scorer for Fleetwood at the moment. He bagged twice in Fleetwood's amazing 4-0 win over top side Burton, and also scored a last gasp winner in Fleetwood's 2-1 JPT win over Shrewsbury. He also netted once against Gillingham and once against Port Vale last month, meaning he has scored five goals in his last eight games. Not bad. We also need to look out for big 6ft 3 striker Jamie Proctor, who has scored 4 goals so far this season.
My Score Prediction: Fleetwood 1-3 Chesterfield
Despite last week's loss, I am more than confident that we can come away with a win tomorrow. Fleetwood will be without Jimmy Ryan, who is a massive part of their team, and they have also lost Richard Wood, who was on loan for them up to last weekend. With Evatt coming back from suspension, and the arrival of Wood adding to our defensive quality, I think we will be able to keep the likes of Grant and Proctor quiet for the majority of tomorrow's game, and we all know scoring hasn't really been a problem for us this season.
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