Week Point

FROM doom and gloom at on the Tees to renewed hope from a Home Park victory in a week – football is a fickle mistress.

The Pilgrims’ 1-0 win over Accrington, through Lewi Alessandra’s ninth goal of the season just before half-time, went a long way to righting the wrongs of the previous weekend’s 3-2  defeat at Sky Bet League 2’s bottom side Hartlepool.

It also rekindled everyone at Home Park’s hopes that a play-off push – or even better – might still be possible as the season reaches a busy and critical juncture.

Argyle travel to Buckinghamshire on Tuesday to visit the division’s second-placed team, before another home game on Saturday as a little run of Saturday-Tuesday fixtures begins.
 
“It is amazing how much a win can change things,” said Argyle vice-captain Peter Hartley. “We have got a massive game against Wycombe on Tuesday and another against Cambridge next week. When you have got three games in a week, and you win three games, anything can happen; things change and we could be back in the mix for automatic [promotion].

“You just never know. You have just got to keep your feet firmly on the ground and take it a game at a time.”

Neither Wycombe, nor the congested fixture-list fazes Peter, who came through 90 minutes for the first time since a hip injury ruled him out of the pre-Christmas game against Dagenham & Redbridge.

“I think it benefits us because we have got a really strong team,” he said. “Everyone seems to be doing okay. Everyone is training okay and obviously we won today. We’ve got a big squad and we can deal with these games.

“We’ve played teams at the top of the table. We beat Shrewsbury here. Anyone can beat anyone in this league. No-one expects us to win at Wycombe apart from ourselves, so we go there; we know what we are going to do; we do a job and hopefully get three points.”

Wycombe have gone from one extreme to another in less than a season. Having survived relegation only on the final day of the last campaign, they are now on course for promotion – a turnaround for which Peter gives manager Gareth Ainsworth a lot of credit.

“The gaffer was a different class pro,” he said, “and obviously the boys really respect him and appreciate what he has done as a pro and he’s moved on to the manager side of things and has had a good start.

“You can never be too shocked how teams are doing at this level because anyone can beat anyone; you have just got to take everything with a pinch of salt and make sure you turn up ready to do your job.”