Cod Army plaudits wash over boss

Fleetwood will pay no attention to their tag of League Two promotion favourites, according to manager Graham Alexander.

The Cod Army made waves over the summer with a raft of high-calibre recruits including Stevenage captain Mark Roberts, former Notts County midfielder Jeff Hughes and ex-Southend defender Ryan Cresswell. Those additions led many to tip Alexander's men for a successful campaign despite playing non-league football just 18 months ago, yet their boss - himself a vastly-experienced defender with the likes of Burnley and Preston - treats such predictions with short shrift. "I don't read much of the stuff that goes on," he said. "There's a few teams (who could be considered favourites), I think Portsmouth will one of the favourites, Chesterfield will be one of the favourites, Oxford now. It doesn't win you any points if you're favourite, it doesn't lose you any games either. "The only things we can control and look after are the training sessions, the mentality within the squad and obviously the games, all that sort of stuff. "I've been in the game too long, it goes straight over our heads." Nevertheless, Fleetwood have made an encouraging start, winning four of their six games to leave them just outside the automatic promotions spots - not that Alexander is focusing on their league position in these early stages. He added: "We look at the points we're getting on the board but it won't be until the last month if we might be in touching distance (of promotion), but definitely not now. "It's pointless; we just want to keep getting points on the board. The latter part of the season, that's when we start paying attention to where we are in the league."