For the second time this week, Argyle will cross the Severn Bridge into South Wales, and will face a different, but no less tricky, task.
Argyle play Cardiff City on Saturday, meaning the Greens are heading to the fledgling league leaders, who have four wins and a draw from their five games, but will take heart from a midweek trip to Swansea City.
In the Carabao Cup, Argyle took the Sky Bet Championship Swans all the way, losing on penalties following a 1-1 draw and an eye-catchingly competitive performance. That followed a 1-0 win over Blackpool last weekend, which was the first league win of the season for the Pilgrims.
After the most positive week of the season so far for Argyle, over 3,000 supporters will head to Cardiff’s away end to back their players, and Head Coach Tom Cleverley is hoping that momentum can be continued.
“Even though it's an away fixture, we'll feel the full force of our away supporters, and they'll travel in their numbers on Saturday,” Cleverley told Argyle TV.
“I think the last three performances – okay, Leyton Orient, we didn't do enough with the ball to win the game - but they've been consistent performances, they've been controlled, whether that's with or without the ball, we've looked in control.
“We're getting some consistency in our game. The addition of the new faces, and the introduction into the team of Alex Mitchell and Lorent Tolaj has been a real positive, along with our first league win, and then a massively positive performance at Swansea on Tuesday.
“It was never going to be quick with 13 or 14 in and 14 or 15 out. It’s going to take time for those players to not just get used to me, but get used to a new environment that they're working in.
“Now that looks like it's becoming more and more settled. Relationships and connections are starting to form, and we’ve seen some sort of consistency in the last three performances, for different reasons. Now it's all about bringing that together in what's a challenging run of league games.”
Cardiff were the only team to finish below Argyle in the second tier last season, but have started strongly following the appointment of Brian Barry-Murphy to their head coach position in the summer. Barry-Murphy had an unremarkable spell as Rochdale manager some years ago, but has subsequently spent three years coaching in Manchester City’s Academy, and then a spell with Leicester City, and has really hit the ground running at the Cardiff City Stadium.
On the Bluebirds, Cleverley said: “[They are a] possession-based team, really well coached. Brian's got good experience of what excellence looks like from his time at Manchester City. They lost a few players, like ourselves, but you look through their team and I think nine or ten of those players were contracted to Cardiff last season.
“There's been stability, there's been continuity, and there's a high calibre of player in the building. It’s going to be a firm test for us on Saturday, but one that I think the consistency we've showed, we're ready for. We’re looking to challenge head on.
“I'm always confident. I see the training levels, I see the standards, I see the preparation. I'm always confident that, whatever game it is, we have a game plan and we have the players to carry that out, and to win the game.”
