Positional Sense
ARGYLE manager Derek Adams will be content if only one of the two sides that take to the Home Park pitch this Saturday is in Sky Bet League One next season.
Argyle, in 13th place, will meet league leaders Wigan Athletic. Derek believes that Wigan, managed by his old rival Paul Cook, will be promoted at the season’s, and although Argyle are on a very fine recent run, he stresses that survival in the division should still be considered a success for the Pilgrims.
The Pilgrims will come up against a stern defence in the Latics who have not conceded a league goal since November 25th, which coincidently was the last time Argyle failed to score in a league match. The Latics won 3-0 against Premier League Bournemouth on Wednesday and Adams feels there is no good time to play them.
Derek said: “I don’t think there is a good time to catch Wigan at the moment. They are a fabulous outfit; their manager has got them playing really good football. He inherited some really good players when he went there and he has added some players to the squad.
“They are not a League One side; they are a Championship or a Premier League side. They are in this division because of factors that were sometimes out of their control.
“Them and Blackburn are the best teams we have played this season. Eighteen games to go, the way they have performed. I would be hugely surprised if they are not in the top two.
“It is great test for us, and we have got a lot of players looking forward to the test. We have shown when we played Wigan earlier in the season we were so close to getting a point. But, that’s not to say they played very well last night.”
Adams is keeping him and his player’s feet firmly on the ground after a recent run has seen some fans hope for a promotion push and realises that the Pilgrims have a very tough run of fixtures in the next few weeks.
“We have got to stay in League One,” he said. “That is our main goal. We have 18 games to go and we are in a good position. We know how many wins we need to do that and how many points are required to stay in this division. After that, then its about finishing as high as we possibly can.
“We have got the top teams coming up in Wigan, Blackburn and Shrewsbury as well as Oldham in between. So we have got a tough run of fixtures starting with Wigan on Saturday.
“Fans were talking about a lot of other things before that, lets not get carried away and at this moment in time we have put ourselves in a good position.”