Ash's Posh Wishes

SKY Bet League One leaders Peterborough United stand in the way of Ashley Smith-Brown collecting his first three-point haul as a Pilgrim, although Argyle’s left-back and his team-mates are undaunted by the reputation of Saturday’s high-flying Home Park opponents.

“We take every game as it comes, really,” said Ashley. “We are confident in our own ability and, if we do the things that we are good at, and we defend well, we will have no problems" 

Ash has started all four of Argyle’s league matches since his summer arrival from Manchester City, including 1-1 draws at the Theatre of Greens against Southend United and, on Tuesday, Wycombe Wanderers. 

“We’ve had a good performance in some of the games and been unlucky not to come out with three points in some of them,” said Ash. “The game against Southend and the game against Wycombe were points dropped and hopefully we can put it right on Saturday.”

The Pilgrims led from the fourth minute until the 84th against Wycombe, who became the first team to score against Argyle from open play this season when Matt Bloomfield equalised late on to complete a full set of results in a week after a Carabao Cup victory at Bristol City; and a 1-0 penalty-decided defeat at Coventry. 

Ashley said: “The boys wanted to show a reaction after Coventry. We were a bit disappointed after that game, especially coming off the back of the Bristol one. 

“We started brightly and were really in their faces and playing good football; the second half just wasn’t our half – we defended well for the first half an hour, then, for the last 15 minutes, when [Adebayo] Akinfenwa came on, he caused us a lot of trouble and was hard to deal with. He’s a presence. 

“It was very disappointing but, at the end of the day, it’s still a point on the board, which is a positive, and we have got to take all the positives from the game, look back at the clips and see what we can work on. 

“The defence has done well. We have defended well as a team from back to font. Hopefully, that will continue.” 

Given Argyle manager Derek Adams’ two-player-for-every-position philosophy, Ash finds himself in direct competition with club captain Gary Sawyer for the left-back slot, and knows that he will have to stay on the very top of his game to retain the gaffer’s favour. 

Ash said: “Gaz is a great player and he leads the boys really well. You can see that he is well respected and the fans like him. 

“I’ve been happy so far. I still think I can do a lot more; I’m not resting on my laurels or feeling complacent.” 

With former Arsenal defender Tafari Moore on the opposite side of the back four, the Pilgrims currently have two ex-Premier League youngsters who like to get up and down their flank. 

“That’s always been in my game,” said Ash. “I’ve always looked to get forward, get crosses in and try to create things. Taf is really adventurous, as well, so I think it’s really beneficial for the team.”