Opposition View: Fleetwood Braced For Foxes Visit
- This week's Opposition View comes from the Blackpool Gazette's Rosie Swarbrick
- Swarbrick says Fleetwood Town supporters are excited by Leicester City's visit this weekend
- The two sides will meet in the Third Round of the Emirates FA Cup on Saturday (12:45pm kick-off)
In 2011/12, Vardy scored 31 goals to fire Fleetwood to the Conference title before joining City and going on to hoist the Premier League trophy aloft at King Power Stadium four seasons later.
When Fleetwood entertain the Foxes for an Emirates FA Cup Third Round tie on Saturday afternoon (12:45pm kick-off), much of the pre-match focus will be on Vardy's links to the Sky Bet League 1 club.
“The fans are absolutely living the dream at the prospect of having Jamie Vardy back,” Swarbrick told LCFC Radio. “It was only one season but it was one of the best seasons we’ve had.
Dragovic Previews Fleetwood Task
Aleksandar Dragovic speaking ahead of Saturday's FA Cup Third Round tie.
“In his book, he speaks about the spirit they had. They played with freedom and Vardy was a character on and off the pitch. He caught the eye with his performances and his character.”
Fleetwood, meanwhile, are currently 12th in League 1 after impressing many last term with a surprise bid for promotion, but Swarbrick believes a top-10 finish this time around would represent a successful campaign.
“There was a lot of expectation at the beginning of the season after last year’s top-four finish, they were last season’s surprise package,” she added.
“They were close to getting automatic promotion. I don’t think anyone, not even Uwe Rösler, expected them their success to come about quite so rapidly.
“This year, they’ve been victims of their own success giving the weight of expectation. So far, it’s been very inconsistent, they had a great start with three wins in a row.
“After that good start, it’s been inconsistent. There’s been some heavy defeats mixed in with a couple of good results, including an excellent win at Bradford, which is a tough place to go.
“It’s very inconsistent. They have had a bad run of form but they’ve picked up, despite a defeat to Gillingham which was followed by wins over Oldham and Bury.
“They’ve done well in the cups so far. They got past Chorley, when they came back from behind and they also needed a replay to beat Hereford.
“That result at Hereford restored belief, which was much-needed, that they can win games. A result against Leicester could push them towards securing a top-10 position in the table.”