One Thing After Another

...high on Argyle’s priorities this season that getting into Sky Bet League One is the number one target. 

“In the league, we want to get promoted,” he said, “that is the main aim; in the FA Cup, you want to see how far you can get.”

Argyle face Newport County at Home Park on Saturday in the second round of the Cup after beating Mansfield Town away 2-1 in the first round.  The Pilgrims have played County twice already this season, having beaten them 4-1 at Home Park in the Checkatrade Trophy in August, and getting a 3-1 victory away  in the league in October.

A win for the Pilgrims will see them progress to the third round of the competition, where they could potentially be drawn against Premier League opposition.

Oscar said: “Nobody is talking about who they want in the next round because we’re taking it one game at a time.  Yes, we have the chance of a good draw, but we’ll take it as it comes. We’ve got to beat Newport first. 

“If we can draw a big team in the FA Cup, that would mean a lot to us; if we can beat Newport and draw a big opposition, it will be a benefit for us. It will be a great experience and we’ll give it a good go.”

Argyle’s best run in the FA Cup was back in the 1983-84 season when they made it to the semi-final before being knocked out by Watford at Villa Park, losing the game 1-0. 

The Pilgrims come into this fixture on the back of three straight defeats after losing 3-0 at home to Grimsby, 2-0 at home to Barnet, and 2-1 away to Morecambe last Saturday. This is nothing to be worried about, according to Oscar. 

He said: “We always have blips, every team has blips now and again – it’s about how we react to them. At the start of the season, we played very well and no results were going our way. We then went on a 14-game unbeaten run – we need to get back to winning ways and hopefully carry on another run.

“We need to work on defending corners and set-pieces better – we have been doing that all week – and we need to concentrate more and talk more defensively on the pitch.

“When we went on the winning run, it was because of our defensive play from top to bottom; we need to get back to those winning ways. We’ve got a good enough squad to do so.”