Joey Barton says his Fleetwood Town have to aspire to Sunderland’s consistency, even if the Black Cats have not been “spectacular” under Jack Ross.
Writing in his programme notes ahead of , he highlighted why the Wearsiders are going into the game with promotion – albeit most likely through the play-offs – still to play for, while his side are in mid-table.
“The match last September was a great occasion for Fleetwood and we were a touch unfortunate not to get maximum points,” Barton said of the 1-1 draw.
“Paddy (Madden) had a penalty saved by the keeper (Jon McLaughlin).
“However, credit to Sunderland who fought their way back into the game. Cairnsy (Alex Cairns) had to make a couple of good stops towards the end. It was a good point and we took a lot of belief from it.
“Since then Sunderland have gone from strength to strength, as they should with the personnel they have got. They haven’t been spectacular but solid consistency has got them were they lie now.
“We haven’t been able to match that and have to learn those lessons on a week-by-week basis to give ourselves opportunities to stay in the top eight for large parts of the season.”
Tonight’s match is fourth-placed Sunderland’s game in hand on top two Luton Town and Barnsley. Third-placed Portsmouth, two points ahead of the Black Cats, are at home to Peterborough.
The regular season finishes on Saturday evening.
The Black Cats have lost just three league matches this season, but have drawn 19 of their 44 games.
