Fleetwood boss Scott Brown has challenged his side to be more threatening in the final third ahead of their clash with Wanderers.

The Cod Army are currently 16th in the League One table, having won four games since the start of the campaign.

Brown, who took charge at the Highbury Stadium over the summer, admits the busy fixture list has been a challenge this season and is relishing the chance for a week on the training pitch ahead of facing the Whites.

The 37-year-old praised his side’s work ethic but insists they need to start putting opposition goalkeepers under more pressure.

He told the club’s website: “The league is hard. There are lots of games and it’s relentless, and having a week to train is great for the lads and for us coaches because we can actually get some coaching sessions in.

“We need to make sure that we give the players as much information as possible.

“We need to hit the target more and make the keeper work, but the lads work hard for us and they have been fantastic.”

Fleetwood drew 2-2 against Bristol Rovers in their last outing, with Shaun Rooney bagging a brace including a dramatic equaliser in the ninth minute of stoppage time.

Brown’s side are now unbeaten in their last five matches in all competitions, including back-to-back home wins against Oxford and Accrington Stanley.

“It was a game of two halves,” the manager added. “I thought in the first half we controlled the game, we created a lot of chances and put Bristol Rovers under a lot of pressure.

"In the second-half I think the home fans frightened our lads a little bit and I have to be honest and say they were fantastic, but our lads didn’t deal with it well and we caused our own problems with sloppy defending and switching off.

“It was more ball watching and not working out where people were, but we managed to get through that. We managed to score two goals, and it was about time we scored a late goal.”

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