Joey Barton calls on Fleetwood Town’s fans to turn up the volume once more

Fleetwood Town boss Joey Barton wants a repeat of the noisy backing his players received at Bradford City

Barton was full of praise for the role the travelling fans played in Town’s 1-0 win over Bradford City last Saturday.

The Cod Army brought the noise at Valley Parade and, for Barton, will be key in Town’s bid to end the League One leaders’ 19-game unbeaten run.

Speaking about the win, Barton said: “The most pleasing thing for me was the fans, they were excellent on Saturday.

“I did not expect to see that many numbers because that has not always been the way.

“When you come out, the lads are warming up and you see our end with bigger numbers than normal and you hear them singing – it lifts the whole team.

“Certainly, in the last five or 10 minutes, they made a hell of a difference because you see the lads being galvanised because there was a bit of action on there side.

“If we are going to beat the top team in the division on Saturday we need Highbury to be rocking.

“We will rest, recover and get the freshness back in this week and then look forward to hopefully a boisterous game with our fans at it and creating a good atmosphere for us to get a good performance and good result against a side that sits top of the table.”

The game was also memorable for keeper Alex Cairns, who played his 100th game for the club and kept a clean sheet.

Barton said: “Cairnsy will be buzzing.

“Those milestones mean a lot for players; to play for any football club a hundred times is a huge achievement in anyone’s career.

“He is absolutely first class and you could not wish to meet a better lad, someone who works incredibly hard at his game.

“He gets a clean sheet to boot on Saturday; keepers do pride themselves on keeping that ball out of the net.

“The things he had to do on Saturday he did, which is what you expect of a top-class keeper.

“Al did not really have his busiest game. But, as I said in the build-up, I want him to be the most bored man in our team because that says that everything in front of him is functioning well and he has little to do.”

Wes Burns and James Wallace are both doubts for the weekend; Burns sat out the Bradford game with an ankle knock while Wallace, who set up Paddy Madden for the only goal, limped off after half an hour.