Final Targets

ARGYLE manager John Sheridan is targeting two wins from the Pilgrims’ remaining two Sky Bet League 2 fixtures against Hartlepool United and Portsmouth.

After three defeats in a row, and one win in seven, Argyle’s chances of reaching the play-offs have faded to nothing as the season draws towards a close.

This Saturday, the Pilgrims welcome mid-table Hartlepool, who halted their own six-game losing run with a 2-1 win against Morecambe last weekend despite being reduced to ten men when former Argyle skipper Simon Walton was sent off.

The ninth-placed Pilgrims could finish eighth if Oxford United fail to win their remaining two fixtures and Argyle win both of their own, and John is targeting some precious end-of-season points and confidence for his “flat” players.

He said: “I’d like us to win both games and try and finish on a high, especially at home; to get a win for the supporters, people who have been coming and supporting us really well this season.

“We want to try and win the two games because of the run we’ve been on. We’re a bit flat at the moment, but I’ve just got to try and get [the players] up. Whatever team I pick, hopefully will win us the last home game of the season.”

The Pilgrims have won only one of their last five home games – the worst record in the league over the course of the last five home games – and have accumulated only eight wins from their 22 league fixtures at Home Park and John admitted: “Our home form is probably the reason why we’re not where we want to be, so we need to do a lot better in that area.

“We’ve got to finish on a winning streak, for the supporters. We’re at home; we’ve got to win the game. It’s a big game. We’ve ended up on a downer; we’ve still got two games to go and I want to go out with the right attitude – I want to win both games, and finish as high as possible.

“I wanted to be in the play-offs.  I’m greedy – I want to be successful as quickly as I can for this club. Consistency is the problem we’ve had; we haven’t been consistent enough.

“We’ve done a lot of good things this season, but unfortunately the end of it hasn’t worked out the way we wanted it to.

“I expected us to get into the play-offs, the way we were going, but we haven’t, so I’ll learn from it and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”