By Rob Cornell
Andy Barcham is determined that the Dons don't return empty-handed from their visit to the Fylde Peninsula after a week of analysis and hard work at the training ground.
"You don't want to sit back on the journey home having taken nothing from the game," said Barcham in an interview to our premium iFollow channel. "That definitely plays a part in it, as it does every away game. I think all the away games we have in the early part of the season are like that with the long journeys we have.
"We're very eager to play and to put right the wrongs and hopefully we can do that, We've tried to move on (from last Saturday's defeat at home to Shrewsbury). The gaffer has tried to gee us up and we've used the week to work on the mistakes that we made and we've been watching videos and having meetings about it.
"There's been no shouting or anything like that. We were all down as a team and a bit flat and we know, as team, we can perform better than that. We've just tried to work on the mistakes that we made and try and progress. We're trying something different this season, so things like that are going to happen and we want to rectify them quickly and move on."
There's been quite a turnover of players during the summer break, but for Barcham – who committed to a new deal earlier this year – this new group know how to lift each other after a lack-lustre display.
"The new signings have come in and already been stamping their authority on the group. Lyle (Taylor) has already been taken off the music! Some people have said that's a blessing, but I actually enjoyed it.
"We've got a lot of characters in the group and it's for all of us to lift each other when we're down - such as weeks like this - and we've definitely done that this week and the boys are bright going into the weekend and hopefully we'll see a better performance this Saturday."
Click on the link below for a clip of Andy's interview on iFollow.
Although Fleetwood made a surprise exit at home to League Two Carlisle in the Carabao Cup, they've taken maximum points from their first two league games with victory at home to Rotherham on the opening day and at Northampton last Saturday. They've also yet to concede in League One so far this season.
However, the last two meetings at Highbury Stadium between the Dons and Fleetwood have ended goalless with this fixture ending in a draw on the last three occasions since 2012.
"The manager wants us to express ourselves in the final third," said Barcham. "He's massive on that and wants us to show what we can do, but that can only come if we work hard as a team without the ball and get our shape right for when we haven't got it.
"There's no point on working on things that we can do with the ball if without it we're going to be easy to break down and that's what we've struggled with in the previous games. So we've been working hard to give ourselves a platform so that we can perhaps show what we can do in the final third."
The full interview with Andy Barcham, along with the views of the Dons assistant manager Neil Cox, are available to subscribers of our iFollow Dons channel.