Ready For The Off

FOLLOWING the culmination of Argyle’s pre-season fixtures, Carl Fletcher seemed pleased with his side’s preparations for the forthcoming season.

Argyle went down 1-0 to Preston, but were arguably the better of the two sides for long periods of the game; the only issue being they couldn’t find the net.

With Preston a division higher than the Pilgrims, Fletch was impressed with the way his squad applied themselves.

He said: “It was a good work out.

“After we got the first 20 out of the way, it was good.

“Preston are a strong physical side and are maybe a bit more like what we would face in the league.”

Argyle were slow out of the blocks and came under a lot of pressure from Preston in the opening 20 minutes, a period in which Argyle conceded the only goal of the game from Akpo Sodje.

Fletch was disappointed with the opening but was happy with the response.

“The start was a little bit lethargic,” he said.

“We had a tough session yesterday but the lads stuck at it and we knew what we needed to do.

“Towards the end of the game, fitness levels were still looking good so all round I was pleased.”

Fletch was also impressed with the performance of the two new boys, Rhys Griffiths and Johnny Gorman, after they signed for the club on Monday and made their home debuts.

Griffiths battled to just about every long ball in the first whilst Johnny was one of the creative highlights for the Pilgrims.

“They did alright,” he said.

“We knew what to expect from both, really.

“You get what you get from Rhys, he’s a big physical lad and it’s the same with Johnny, he likes to get on the ball and make things happen so I was pleased with their contribution.

“It sounds a bit boring but at the end of the day, the more times you put it in the box, the more chance you have of scoring.

“It’s what strikers want and what people want and if you do it more and more you’ll score.”