The Good Things

ARGYLE Manager John Sheridan remained confident in his team as he prepared the Pilgrims for Tuesday’s Home Park clash against his former club, Sky Bet League 2 table-topper Chesterfield.

Bouncing back after a home defeat by Scunthorpe on Saturday against such strong opposition may seem like daunting task, but John believes that the Greens have what it takes to continue their move towards the division’s play-off places.

“We can take a lot of good things from the game,” said John. “The effort to try and get something from the game and win it was really good. I thought it was a case of whoever scored first would win the game.

“Usually, when we score first, we don’t lose many games, and most teams in the division would feel the same.”

The Pilgrims lost 2-0 to Chesterfield in December in another close encounter which turned on two penalties – one scored by Chesterfield’s Marc Richards and one missed by Argyle’s leading scorer Reuben Reid.

“They are pretty strong; they have got pretty good players for this division,” said John, of the team that has not been outside the top five for the entire campaign. “They’ve got a bit of experience, some good young players on the team.

“I think we expected them to have a good season and they are having good one but, when we played them up there, I expected to get something from the game. Hopefully they were expecting a tough game and we gave them a tough game.”

Argyle have not lost back-to-back league games since early September, and you have to go back to last season for successive home failures.

“It’s all about consistency at this level, in this division,” said John. “If you get players playing well on the team, then you’ve got a very good chance of getting out of the division.”

The match against the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy finalists comes in the middle of a nine-games-in-31-days spell, but John feels that should not be a factor in the Pilgrims’ performance.

“I have never let that get in my way,” he said, “and, if I was a player, I wouldn’t let that get in my way. I would just enjoy playing so I don’t make excuses.

“That is how I look at it and that is how I manage as well.”