Club News
All Set For Luton
5th September 2014
JOHN Sheridan believes that the Pilgrims’ defence of set plays is an area which needs to be improved, especially in away fixtures.
John and his squad have been working hard in training on set-play drills ahead of our trip to Luton Town’s Kenilworth Road on Saturday – when Argyle will be bidding to get their first points away from home on the board.
In both previous away matches at Cambridge and Bury, the Pilgrims conceded goals that John described as ‘soft’.
“They were soft goals to concede in both the away games, and they came from set-plays,” he said, “so we have worked on them as we have to stop crosses coming into the box. I don’t think many teams have played through us and I think our shape is really good at the moment, but then we do allow balls to come into the box a bit cheaply.
“The defenders understand how they need to defend in certain areas. We have just got to be wary, you are going to come under pressure, so we have got to stand up and have a bit of knowhow and belief in ourselves.”
John also outlined that the players need to also have self-belief when they suffer setbacks and maintain it throughout.
“At Cambridge, we were right in the game until they scored and I thought we were the better team; we looked solid. But once they scored we didn’t play well at all and I don’t think we really knew how to get back in the game.
“Likewise, at Bury, I thought we played well for the first five or ten minutes, but once they got the first goal, our shape and belief went. It’s always difficult, especially when you go 2-0 down, but once we reshuffled, we got that belief back and were very unfortunate not to get something out of the game.”
This will be the first time Argyle have locked horns with Luton in six years and the Greens will be looking to put right their 2-0 League Cup defeat in 2008 at the hands of the Hatters.
You can watch the Greens on Screen live on Sky Sports at 12.15pm, with Argyle looking to capitalise on Luton’s poor home form after claiming just one point at Kenilworth Road this season.