Train As We Play

ARGYLE manager Ryan Lowe says, despite the Great British weather being miserable since the turn  of the year, it has not interrupted his squad’s training preparations.

While Head Groundsman Chris Ralph and his team work tirelessly on the main playing surface at Home Park, equal effort is attributed to the training pitches at Harpers Park to ensure they are kept pristine on a daily basis.

“To be fair to the boys, Ralphy and his team, they’ve been top drawer,” said Ryan. “They’ve rightly had a bit of a credit, they’ve been brilliant.”

The Gaffer said that even during the worst of the weather, the boys have always trained as normal, and that consistency is all important as the season nears its conclusion. Macclesfield Town tomorrow represents the first of the last 10 games in Sky Bet League Two.

“To be fair to all the ground staff, they’ve been spot on,” said Ryan. “There has not been one day that we’ve had to take the lads off. We mix it up, use the top pitch for patterns of play and move it around every few months.”

Significant investment has been put toward the training facilities at Harpers after Ryan had made it known that he would like quality passing football to be played on both pitches.

He said: “They [the Argyle Board] spent a lot of money on it with drainage and we said we wanted to be playing football, so that pitch has got to be spot on. They took on board everything we asked for and Schuey [assistant manager Steven Schumacher] got into them early doors.”