Alexander trusts in Lucketti

Alexander trusts in Lucketti

Published Dec. 12, 2012 1:15 p.m. ET

Henning Berg insists it will take big money for any potential suitors to prize Adam Henley away from Blackburn.

Henley stands as one of the few bright points in a troubled start to Berg's reign at Ewood Park.

The 18-year-old right-back has started all eight games under Steve Kean's successor, building on a breakthrough season last term that saw him feature in a shock win over Manchester United at Old Trafford in the Premier League.

Henley penned a new long-term deal to keep him with Rovers until 2017 last week and Berg is confident there is plenty more to come from the Wales Under-21 international.

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"I think he's done really well," he said.

"We've seen him do really well at Old Trafford and Anfield last season, at Stamford Bridge last season. Since he came back into the team he's showed that those games were not a fluke.

"There's no doubt he is a talented young right-back. He's only 18 and, of course, if he keeps playing well he will stay in the team and he can look to progress.

"We are very happy to have signed him on a longer contract. We want to make sure we keep the players that we can improve on and make them even better.

"If somebody comes in they will have to pay a lot of money to get him."

The Gills are top of League Two and hold a five-point lead over Port Vale in second.

But the manager says he does not pay much attention to the standings at this stage of the season and wants to keep expectations down at Priestfield.

"We can't keep looking at the league table and saying how happy we are," he told Kent Online.

"The other week we were seven points clear and everyone was talking about it all the time. Then it came down to two points and everyone was saying 'oh my God we've blown it' and all this sort of stuff.

"But don't even look, don't bother, it's not worth it. It doesn't matter now. At the end of the season it matters.

"There are going to be ups and downs but we make sure the downs don't get too down and the ups don't get too high.

"There will be spells where you don't win matches for a while but you need to just keep going, keep supporting and keep helping the players."

Former Bury defender Lucketti was a long-time team-mate of Alexander's at Preston during his playing days.

The pair headed up the Deepdale outfit's youth set-up from the start of this season and Alexander was granted permission to take his colleague across Lancashire with him when appointed as Micky Mellon's successor at Town last week.

Although Lucketti's role among the otherwise unchanged Highbury Stadium backroom staff is yet to be defined, Alexander is delighted to have him aboard.

"Chris is here to support me in my job," he said. "We haven't arranged all the job descriptions and details yet.

"Chris helped me with the youth squad at Preston. I played alongside him for a few years and he's a fantastic character, a good coach, straight up and knows football inside out.

"He's been a loyal person all his life. As well as me coming to Fleetwood, I know that Chris will definitely be a positive for this club going forward."

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