ALAN'S PRIDE OF THE FLEET

FA Cup finalist Alan Wright hopes his Cod Army can land the Catch of the Day in today’s first round.

The Fleetwood Town ­defender, who played for Aston Villa in their Cup ­final defeat to Chelsea in 2000, takes on ­Northampton this afternoon.

Even though Fleetwood are one of the wealthiest clubs in the Blue Square North, the little defender knows there is little chance of an extended run for the minnows in this year’s competition.

Not that Wright and his Fleetwood team-mates – known as the Cod Army to their loyal fans in the ­Lancashire fishing port – don’t sniff an upset today.

Wright said: “We’re not going there just to make up the numbers. We’re going there to give it our best shot and hopefully get a result.

“We’ve got a confidence about ourselves that we can go and cause an upset.

“This club wants to go places and the fact that the chairman’s got ambition and wants Fleetwood to ­become a league club ­within the next few years persuaded me to sign.

“At the moment, the club is part-time but there are plans to turn full-time next year and the chairman is throwing everything at them to get promotion into the ­Conference and then into the league.

“They’ve had three new stands built in the last ­couple of years and just got planning permission for a new £4m stand.

“They have their own academy and staff that are going to become full-time.

“The chairman has made his mind up that he wants Fleetwood to become a league club and that’s what we’re striving for.

“I think the average gate is over 1,000 and it’s about creating a buzz about the place. With the new stand about to happen and the new facilities, it’s going to be better than a lot of League One and Two clubs.

“Now we need the football to catch up with the ­facilities. Fingers crossed, that will happen.”

Wright, 38, has fond ­memories of the FA Cup.

He was part of the Aston Villa side beaten 1-0 by ­Chelsea in the last Cup final at the old Wembley.

The 5ft 4in defender also helped ­Championship side ­Sheffield United knock out Villa in the third round five years later and hopes he can cause another shock .

Wright said: “It’s a ­massive tournament so you want to do your best in it.

“I played centre-half in the Sheffield United game believe it or not, and it was a great scalp.

“Fingers crossed we can cause an upset.”

Wright signed a one-year deal with Fleetwood after speaking to manager Micky Mellon on a coaching course this summer.

He said: “We got talking one night and he asked if I fancied playing for him part-time.

“He told me who he was trying to get in and made it clear to me that I would be an asset to the club.

“I didn’t want to get ­myself into a situation where I was hanging around for months trying to find a league club and the club sold itself really.”

Wright is planning for the day he hangs up his boots, and hopes to win a coaching contract with Fleetwood.

He added: “I’m in the process of doing my A ­licence and working with the younger lads to give me some coaching experience and I’ll continue to do that.

“And if a coaching role comes along at Fleetwood next year, then I’d probably take it on.”

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