Fleetwood Town must quickly turn their attention from a famous Carabao Cup victory over Arsenal to the reality of a testing League Two campaign. Manager Matt Lawlor and his side host Bristol Rovers at Highbury Stadium on Saturday, 31 October, needing points to climb away from the lower end of the table.
The fourth-tier club reached the Carabao Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday, 27 October, by beating Arsenal 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at Highbury. Lawlor called the victory the biggest night in the club’s history, but his team remains in an uncomfortable league position just two points above the bottom two places.
Priority remains survival and progress in League Two
Fleetwood enter Saturday’s match sitting 18th in League Two with 14 points from 13 games following a 2-1 loss at Exeter City on 24 October. They have recorded three wins, five draws and five defeats in the league this season, scoring 15 goals and conceding 17.
Poor recent form has seen the team win only once in their previous eight league matches, alongside two draws and five losses, while several teams below them have played fewer games.
Lawlor has made it clear before the weekend’s EFL fixture that his squad cannot let their cup achievement distract from collecting league points. He said in a pre-match conference,
The league is our priority. I said that from 23 June. For me, a win on Saturday is paramount because it’s the next game. Three points is what we always want to achieve at home.
He described Saturday’s contest as “a completely different challenge” from the Arsenal tie and said that Fleetwood needed to improve in the league. (via 72+: The EFL Podcast)
Fleetwood can take confidence from a strong home record that has seen them lose just once at Highbury since March, a run that includes the Arsenal match. Tuesday’s cup win attracted a large crowd and produced a memorable atmosphere inside the ground. Left-back Jake Batty later questioned why the team could not have around 5,000 supporters behind them at every home fixture to help generate similar momentum.
Bristol Rovers arrive at Highbury in 15th place, sitting two spots and two points above Fleetwood. With kick-off scheduled for 3pm UK time, a home victory would take Lawlor’s team to 17 points, closing the gap on a direct rival and giving Fleetwood a chance to move up the table depending on other results.
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How Fleetwood stunned Arsenal to set up an Everton tie
Tuesday’s result was a major achievement for a club that has spent much of its recent history outside the top divisions of English football. Aaron Loupalo-Bi put Fleetwood ahead in the 21st minute before Viktor Gyökeres equalised for Arsenal five minutes after half-time. Arsenal teenager Max Dowman was sent off in the 85th minute, and the teams could not be separated before the penalty shootout.
Goalkeeper Jay Lynch stepped up in the shootout to save Bruno Guimarães’ penalty. Conor Haughey then scored the decisive kick to wrap up a 5-3 shootout win.
That victory earned Fleetwood another home cup tie against Premier League opposition. Everton secured their quarter-final spot by beating Newcastle United 3-1 on Thursday, 29 October. James Garner and Hayden Hackney scored before the break, Thierno Barry added a third in the second half and Dan Burn netted a late consolation for Newcastle. Everton will travel to Highbury for the quarter-final during the week beginning 14 December.
