Dickov: Forget top six

Paul Dickov warned Doncaster to forget about a top-six finish unless their consistency improves after a 3-1 defeat at Fleetwood.

Fleetwood remain unbeaten at Highbury in Sky Bet League One thanks to goals from on-loan duo Stephen Dobbie and Liam McAlinden and a third from David Ball. Dickov was not impressed with his side's first-half display despite Nathan Tyson's deflected strike putting his side briefly on level terms in the 17th minute. He said: "It's going to be difficult for the top six to happen for us. "There's a lot of big clubs with good resources and big squads in this division. "We feel we've got enough to match those teams but we've got to do it on a consistent basis. "It's ok players coming out and talking about the top six but talk is cheap. "We've got to go out there and do it. "If you want to make the top six, and we've got players in that changing room capable of it, you've got to go out there and pick up results on a consistent basis." Fleetwood took just 11 minutes to grab the lead when Stephen Dobbie was on hand to sweep a loose ball home. Nathan Tyson, who spent a spell on loan at Highbury last season, found space to shoot and his deflected 20-yard effort wrong-footed Fleetwood goalkeeper Chris Maxwell. The home side regained the advantage before half-time. Northern Ireland international Conor McLaughlin set Ball free and his low cross was tapped home by Liam McAlinden. Ball backheeled Fleetwood's third into the bottom corner. Dickov knows his options are limited but expects more from his group. He said: "There's not a lot of options for us at the moment. "We've got one or two on the way back but they're not quite ready yet. "But it's what we'll work with and it's up to me as the manager to stop this trend and start getting some consistency and quickly." Fleetwood boss Graham Alexander was pleased to see his side find their form in front of goal after a frustrating slide down the table. He said: "I thought we were very good. "The way the players attacked the game and made Doncaster work was great "We've been talking for weeks about talking our chances when they come along. "We're still not 100 per cent with our clinical finishes, but the three goals we got were fantastic. "The play leading up to them was superb, parcticularly for the third one. "But don't get me wrong, Doncaster were a threat as well. "They've got some good players in their team and we've had to make sure we nullified their threat. "We've been talking about getting back on the goal-scoring trail, but we did not want to let go of any of our defensive qualities. "I'm delighted we didn't do that." Alexander wants his players to turn around their away form with a local derby against his former club Preston next up. He said: "A lack of goals has put a different perspective on our performances. "I think our general play has been very good. "But we haven't been good enough in front of goal to justify that. "We're talking about taking this on now because we've got the quality in our squad to win games." Breaking news, transfer gossip, line ups and goal alerts from your football club - delivered direct to your mobile. Sign up for Sky Sports Alerts