Club News
Game of Two Parts
8th May 2015
ARGYLE'S play-off semi final won't be decided at Home Park on Saturday night according to midfielder Anthony O'Connor...
...a man who has already played in the play-offs, with Burton Albion in 2013.
O'Connor was part of a Burton Albion side two seasons ago that lost over two legs to Bradford City, after winning the first leg 3-2 away from home. This experience could be valuable to ensure Argyle don't suffer a similar fate as Burton Albion did in 2013.
"When I was at Burton we took a 3-2 lead against Bradford, and we battered them at their place," said Anthony. "When we went into the second leg at home, we thought we were already there. We probably got a bit too confident.
"The game isn’t going to be won or lost this Saturday. We have got to make sure we aren’t going to be playing catch up; we have just got to keep our heads down, work hard and go into the second leg, and hopefully do the business there as well."
Last time out, Argyle put in a stellar performance away from home at Shrewsbury, and will be hoping for a repeat of that performance against Wycombe on Saturday evening. Anthony says winning that game puts Argyle in a good position to book their place at Wembley.
"It was a good win, and it’s important to win your last game going into the play-offs as it’s a good confidence boost," he said, "especially against a team who have already been promoted. Wottsy [Argyle's first team coach Paul Wotton] said earlier that he read an interview from one of their players that he said we were the best team they played all season. We were the only team that out muscled them this season at their place."
Earlier this year in February the Pilgrims came out 2-0 winners at Wycombe, with Lewis Alessandra and Peter Hartley getting on the scoresheet. However, O'Connor warns that Saturday's encounter is a fresh scenario.
"It’s a completely different game." he said. "It’s a different 90 minutes. I presume they’ve probably watched that back. That night we played them they played a really high line, and we put a lot of balls over the top for Reuben in behind, so this time they’re going to be a bit more cautious.
"But with that, it will give us more space in midfield so, we’ll be able to pass the ball around. We watched them yesterday, they like to make the game tight. We’re a team that likes to pass it around, so we like to make it as big as we can, play it out wide, put the ball into the box. So its going to be a tough test. Wycombe are always going to be a tough team, but hopefully we’ll be the better 11."