Monday 14 January 2013 13:23, UK
Fleetwood manager Graham Alexander is delighted to have Anthony Barry among his first-team options.
Barry returned to first-team action as a half-time substitute in last weekend's defeat at Northampton, appearing for the first time since suffering a serious knee injury on the first day of last season. The midfielder was handed a start against Bristol Rovers on Saturday and stands as one of the few bright spots in back-to-back defeats for the Cod Army. "He's enthusiastic, he gets around, he makes players around him play better," Alexander said. "He'll always take the ball and he'll always look after it - he's got a great football brain. He's got a great attitude as well. He's very committed to his profession. "We were waiting really for a reserve game to blood him in and have a look but that was a couple of weeks away because of the Christmas period and I thought 'why wait?'." The challenge now, according to Alexander, is to manage Barry's workload effectively and rein in the 26-year-old's natural enthusiasm. "It's just one of those where we have to manage him back into full-time training and playing," the former Scotland international added. "He is doing the training but we do have to keep an eye on him and maybe look after him more than he looks after himself. "He' just desperate to play so we have to take some of those decisions away from him. But I love the attitude and the way he plays. It's liking having a new player coming into the squad."
