Club News

Luke Ahead

ARGYLE goalkeeper Luke McCormick has never felt more at home.

The current Pilgrim of the Year was at the club, as a young goalkeeping prospect, when Paul Sturrock took over and became the catalyst for two title winning sides between 2001 and 2004. 

With over 250 games played, in two spells, for the Greens, Luke knows about as well as anyone how important a cohesive Home Park dressing room can be to breeding success. With regards to the introduction and development of Derek Adams as Argyle boss, Luke likes what he sees. 

"There's a fantastic amount of quality that has come in to the squad," said Luke. "Credit goes to the manager for that, but he's also had a part of bedding everyone in.

"The standards have gone up not just on the pitch but on the training ground and around the club in general. He's (Derek) set the bar there and we all follow. He's installed a fantastic work ethic that we all adhere to.

"Team spirit is crucial if we're going to achieve anything this season.

"Everyone gets on well and we're all good friends. We're prepared to work hard for each other on the pitch and I think that will hopefully help us throughout the course of the season."

After 12 games, Argyle sit at the top of Sky Bet League 2. There may only be a quarter of the season played, but it is understandable that the feelgood factor is back at Home Park. 

Luke, obviously, is not getting carried away. However, by the same token, he is not prepared to dampen the spirits of the Green Army who have suffered to get to this point. More than 850 were present at Notts County on Sunday to witness a 2-0 win, and already the average home attendance has reached over 8,000.

"We're well aware that there's a long road ahead so I think it's just a case of approaching every game with the mentality that we're going to go and win it,” said Luke. 

“Hopefully the way the lads have been playing and the results that we've had have been able to drag people in. Hopefully we'll continue to do that and there'll be a few more over the course of the season. 

“The fans have been waiting a long time to have a club that they can sing and shout about again. We have to make sure we can keep them happy and by doing that it means that you have to stay focused and keep our feet on the ground a little bit. 

"With the players we've got in the team if we can keep everyone fit then who knows. We've showed that up until this point that we can handle the consistency side of things. It's a long way to go but we've certainly done ourselves no harm up until now. 

"There's a feelgood factor about the place again and we're pushing on in the right direction. Who wouldn't want to be part of that?"