Game 42 of a 46 game season, and it is a Devon Derby. It looked early in the season like it could be a critical one, and it may well prove to be.
For Argyle, the Greens sit two points outside the play-off places, with Stevenage just above them, with a game in hand, and various teams right on the Pilgrims’ shoulders.
For Exeter City – this is actually their 43rd game - they occupy 21st position in the Sky Bet League One table, just below the dreaded dotted line, and two points shy of Blackpool. The Grecians have suffered through a 15-game winless run, which ended with a 3-0 win at home to Doncaster Rovers on Monday.
Argyle and Exeter meet on Saturday, at 12.30pm, in a game in which anything other than three points does not do much for either side. Throw in the history, the geography, and the fact that the teams met in October, with Exeter deservedly winning 2-0, and we have one of the most consequential Devon Derbies in some time.
There have been plenty of changes since October. Form, for one. On-pitch personnel, for another. And Exeter have a different head coach since then, with Matt Taylor in charge for the second time in his career.
For Argyle’s boss, he has not forgotten how he felt leaving the pitch at St James Park five months ago.
“It didn't taste good, to be honest,” Tom Cleverley told Argyle TV. “Football is all about high emotion, high stakes, and the feeling that gives you. The ecstasy of winning is what we all strive for, but also there's a fear of losing, or a hatred of losing, that we all grow up with as sportsmen and women.
“It's not sat right in our stomach since October. That's because it's Exeter, but anyone who beats us - Cardiff earlier in the season, that didn't sit right, so we retaliated or reacted the right way, and did one over on them when we played them here.
“[We have to have] the same mentality on Saturday. We have to be intense, we have to be energetic, we have to be aggressive. We have to do the basics really well. From there, I feel like there's a lot of quality that we can showcase.
“I think it's really exciting for everyone involved, the fact that both teams are desperate for these three points to help them achieve their goals.
“I've been pleased with that for about five or six weeks now; every game we've played in has been big, whether it's against a team in and around us fighting for the same things, or whether it's a chance to keep momentum or react to a defeat.
“We've had four or five big games against Bolton, Reading, Stevenage, Huddersfield. These games have really been stepping stones that we've ticked off to lead to, obviously, the biggest one on Saturday, not only because it's the next game, but the importance of it for our supporters and for everyone in and around the football club.
“We all know that on derby days, form goes out the window. I don't think either team will be in a mentality of a draw on Saturday, which makes for an even better contest. I don't think a draw does much for either of us.
“We know what we have to do to give ourselves a very good chance of winning the game. We'll be coming up against an intense, energetic, aggressive team like ourselves. I thought they were well worthy of their win on Monday. [it was] a performance Matt will have been proud of and will want to recreate to make it as difficult for us as possible.
“It would breed a bit of confidence, especially in the style of play. I thought they were intense. I watched their game thinking that it would be a lot of principles that we try to coach in our team, to be really good at the basics and that is a huge part of football. Whether you're in the National League, or you're in League One, or whether you're in the Premier League - trust me, that is a huge part of being successful.
“We're in sport where you visualise about moments, you visualise about things that you want to achieve and this has been one for a long time, since October. It's important that we are simmering right on the edge as we are. It's an area that we've been for the last three or four months. We've not boiled over into petulance or ill-discipline, and we've certainly not been flat. We need to stay right on the edge, simmering. They're games that I'm not afraid to say I get butterflies for. The Derbies, there are more consequences on the game.
“But what we must understand as a group is what is going to give us the best chance to win. And that is consistently delivering on our game plan, as we have done for many months now.”
