Tom Cleverley was understandably pleased in the aftermath of Argyle’s win over AFC Wimbledon on Saturday, and on a second viewing found even more to be satisfied with.
The Greens won 3-1 at the Dons over the weekend, with Alex Mitchell, Lorent Tolaj and Bim Pepple scoring the goals, and with other teams slipping up by drawing their respective games, allowing Argyle to get closer to the play-off positions.
Three days after Wimbeldon, and Argyle are in Bradford waiting to take on a side who look relatively ensconced in the play-off positions, but that could change if the Pilgrims pick up a result at the base of one of the best home teams in the division.
“I've been watching the game back again,” said Tom, following view number two of the Wimbledon win. “I probably upgraded the performance as well. I thought we were really competitive in every area of the pitch, which gave us a foothold in the game.
“I thought the way we competed all over the pitch was outstanding. And we're going to have to do the same again against Bradford, probably the most aggressive and competitive team in the league.
“The quality shone through in the end. We're probably a bit guilty of being wasteful for some openings - and that was definitely confirmed when I watched the game back – but I thought it was a very, very strong performance.
“I think what gives us real confidence is the amount of goals we look like scoring on the road. We're going to have to give them next to nothing because they've got some real quality. Top end of the pitch, they can score three or four different ways. You won't say there's just one avenue if you stop that, so we're going to have to be really, really focused, intense with our defensive work, because on the road we do always look like we'll create five or six big chances to score enough to win a game of football.
“I don't think we'll see any sort of mental weakness from Bradford. I'm not expecting that. I'm expecting two teams to meet each other toe-to-toe, head-to-head, and try to win the game of football. As a result of that, you'll see a lot of duels, a lot of intensity, energy, and I'd back us against anyone in a game like that at the minute, in the form we're in, and the way we're competing.
“We're going there to win. The mentality now has to be to win every single game. Obviously, Stevenage are the team that we're trying to hunt down, but if we win the game tomorrow night, it brings Bradford back in the mix, and they'll be aware of that. They'll be fighting for their lives tomorrow, so I expect it to be a really good game of football.
“We're all taking it one game at a time at the minute, but if you look ahead, [Bradford] will be desperate to cement themselves in the play-offs sooner rather than later, having been there most of the season. It's our job to stop that happening.”
