The cliché, among many, at this time of year, is that every game becomes ‘a final’.
You have all heard it. Let’s say the season is 40 games down: “We’ve got six cup finals to go,” someone will say. And, to be fair, we know what they mean.
Now, let’s offer a subtle variation on this, as Argyle move into the final two games, and make it slightly more orthodox.
There are two games to go: they are, metaphorically, a semi-final, and hopefully a final.
When Argyle go to Preston North End next weekend, they have to win to have a chance of staying in the Sky Bet Championship. They are some technicalities over goal difference, but they are unrealistic, so for simplicity’s sake, the Greens must take all three points at Deepdale to have a shot at heading to the final weekend still playing for their safety.
They will still need other results to go the Pilgrims’ way – and they did not really do that on an Easter Monday that saw four of the bottom five teams win, including Argyle.
Miron Muslic’s team were excellent as they defeated Coventry City at Home Park. Mustapha Bundu and Ryan Hardie scored, with Haji Wright getting one back for the visitors, in a frantic closing five minutes of the first half.
Bundu scored another in the second period, and Argyle saw the game out well, but wins for Derby County, Luton Town and Hull City, while Cardiff City drew, meant the Greens made precious little progress on the rest of the relegation-haunted teams.
That should not take away from how Argyle, three days after a heartbreaking late defeat against Middlesbrough, played. Hardie and Bundu flanked Muhamed Tijani in the front line, with the Nigerian making his first start since the opening game of the season. The three caused issues all afternoon, and were backed up by a very strong team display, with many strong individual performances among them.
“I'm very proud to deliver this kind of performance just three days after Middlesbrough, Miron told Argyle TV, after the game.
“We had a good game plan, but the execution of the lads was just exceptional. That's why we are very proud of the lads.
“We went physical, direct, vertical, intense. [We wanted to] play with aggression, a lot of duels, get Coventry in a fight - because that's something they don't like, so we can take advantage of this.
“[If the game’s] open, it's clearly an advantage for them, but I think we showed from minute one we believe that we can achieve this. We played Norwich. Sheffield United and Coventry- three giants in our competition – and took nine out of nine.
“There are still six points to collect - why not keep going the hard way, and going for the miracle?
“We are still in it. That’s what we want. That was the message inside the locker room. We did our job. We can't control what happens in other stadiums, but we can perform and control our performance.
“The next opportunity for us is Preston, and when we face Leeds here, the last home game, the last match at Home Park, we hope to have something to play for - that's the plan.
“We used Tijani today to be physical, to stay central, and then Hardie and Mus connected round him. It worked out perfectly fine.
“Tijani was match ready to start the game and you can see - this is a big lad! He can create some troubles, and players next to him can pick up those advantages. I think the lads did it in an outstanding way today.”
