Consolidation Time

AFTER Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Bury extended Argyle’s unbeaten league run to seven matches, Argyle manager Derek Adams is staying firmly on the ground and is focused on the trip to Doncaster on Saturday.

The win saw Argyle climb to 12th in the league table, which has seen some supporters and the media hope the Pilgrims can mount a play-off push. 

Adams said:"Our targets are to try and win our next game. We never differ from that, we are into League One and we want to consolidate there, that’s your first aim, and then we take it from there. 

"We have put ourselves in a very good position, we probably feel we could have had seven wins from seven because of the times we have been ahead in the game late on and lost that goal. 

"I’m not surprised we have always done well over the festive period. We have always managed to win games in a short period of time, you look at the past results over that period of time and if you were a betting man you would bet on Plymouth Argyle getting back to back victories over the Christmas period." 

This Saturday’s match against opponents Doncaster Rovers will be the fourth time the teams have met in just over a year. With both sides sitting in the top half of the table after promotion from Sky Bet League Two last season, Derek believes Rovers’ squad is similar to the Pilgrims.

‘‘They haven’t changed their style too much," he said. "They have differed to a three at the back formation sometimes, as they did last season. But they are playing with a diamond formation in midfield, they have got similar personnel. They have changed their team a bit, but they are like us they have a nucleus with a lot of the same side that got promoted last season." 

Midfielder Antoni Sarcevic scored his first goal for Argyle in over 14 months on Saturday and Adams is hoping he can kick on now for the rest of the season. 

"Sarcevic can do whatever he wants on the football pitch. I have seen in pre season training he can run like a sprinter, he can cover the yards and he can score goals. I want him to score more goals, he is going to be a big player for us between now and the end of the season. He’s 25 years of age, he has performed well in games. We are delighted with the way he has come back into the side after his injuries."