Another week, another in-form team for Argyle to face.
In recent times, Tom Cleverley’s Greens have faced top-half sides such as Stevenage, Peterborough United, Luton Town, Mansfield Town and Stockport County, winning two and drawing two of those five games, with a victory over Burton Albion in there for good measure.
Lincoln City, this weekend’s visitors to Home Park, might be on the best run of all. Second in the league, having won three in a row, the Imps are on a 12-game unbeaten league run that includes nine wins. Within those wins, Lincoln can count Cardiff City, Stockport and Bradford City – all teams in the top five – as scalps.
Michael Skubala’s team, therefore, might be considered favourites as they head from east to west, but Cleverley can rightly point to his own side’s form as the two get set to meet on Saturday.
“Michael's done a terrific job with his team,” Cleverley told Argyle TV. “They're definitely the most effective team in the league when it comes to their style of play. There's not a right or wrong way to do it; it's unbelievably effective what they do.
“They've got some real talented individuals in that. [Reeco] Hackett, [Jack] Moylan's in great form. They are where they deserve to be.
“They're in excellent form. They're beating some real strong opposition. So, we're up against it on Saturday, but we have been in good form ourselves. No-one could have complained if we took all three points at Stockport on Saturday, and previously to that against Mansfield – and going back even further against Peterborough and Luton.
“We're looking forward to this challenge, and we'll meet it head on.
“The key thing is the focus is on us. We drive the intensity, we create the atmosphere and I think we've done that really well, being on the front foot. You have to respect when a team that's second in the division and unbeaten in 12, they have some strengths that you're going to have to shut down: set pieces, the long throw.
“The overriding feeling at the minute is we're being really consistent in game plan, in performance levels, and if we can replicate that, then we give ourselves every chance.
“We didn't see a group that was coming in on Tuesday feeling sorry for themselves. We've seen a real hungry team that wants to go on another run, that wants to work hard every day. That's been the atmosphere throughout, even in our real difficult periods. The players were not moping around feeling sorry for themselves. A lot of it is driven internally by the leaders of the group.”
Unfortunately for Cleverley, the now-weekly injury update did not yield positive news. Conor Hazard, Julio Pleguezuelo and Bradley Ibrahim are getting closer to fitness, but not in time for the weekend, and it seems likely leading goalscorer Lorent Tolaj will miss out, too. Scans to Brendan Galloway and Joe Ralls have also not led to good news.
Cleverley said: “Conor is probably another game away. Pleggy, likewise, or a couple of games away. Brendan [Galloway] we're a little bit worried about, so we sent him for a scan that was positive. He's still in a lot of pain, so we'll send him to see a specialist. It's an abdominal issue.
“Rallsy is a little bit worse than we first feared, so he could be a few more weeks. And Tolaj, this one will come too soon for him. We're desperate to get Tolly back, as we are all the players, and we are very hopeful it'll be Blackpool, but these dead legs can linger around when the swelling just doesn't go. It's really hard to bend his knee, extend it fully, and that's restricting him too much at the minute.”
The full interview with Tom Cleverley can be viewed now on Argyle TV.