Argyle Under-18s’ manic run of fixtures continues on Saturday with a Youth Alliance Cup round of 16 tie against Newport County at Millennium Fields.
After the highs of beating Everton on Tuesday night in the FA Youth Cup fifth round, the young Pilgrims must now focus on securing another quarter-final place in a different competition.
The Greens confirmed their place in the final stages of the competition in 2024, finishing second in Group 6 on seven points, behind Newport. In the group stage fixture, Cole Fisher’s tap-in after the second-half restart nearly handed the home side three points, but a late goal from the Welsh side left the game level at full-time.
Head Coach Jamie Lowry expects a tough encounter from the Exiles and hopes his side can be in the right frame of mind at kick-off after picking up an exciting and unforgettable victory on Merseyside earlier in the week.
“It's going to be important that we manage the players’ emotions and come down from the whole experience [against Everton], the journey and the adulation of winning,” Lowry said. “This is part of football, having back-to-back games, but obviously with winning on Tuesday night, they must perform again this Saturday. We will be managing the boys’ expectations, making sure they're in the right place and frame of mind to go and win the game against Newport.
“Newport are always a very competitive side, who work hard and are well organised, so we can expect what we've seen from them so far this season. However, it is about us again. We always talk about it. It's about us going and implementing our strengths on the game, playing how we need to, passing the ball, playing forwards when we can and being nice and aggressive in the press.
“The win [against Everton] was a fantastic performance and it's something that we're going to build on. We can't just be good in one-off games. It's something we need to continue, especially if we want to be more successful in this competition and the league as well. We spoke about needing to put a run together. The last one was 11 games unbeaten, so it's time to go again and keep pushing the lads and challenging them that way.
“We had a really light day on Thursday. We got the boys ticking over and got our legs going and just looked after them. Friday will be game prep and then all systems go again on Saturday.”
A second quarter-final place can be achieved in five days for Argyle, following their victory in the FA Youth Cup. Lowry credits his side’s determination and will to succeed in all competitions as a key factor to the position they find themselves in.
He said: “I think we need to credit the lads. It's something they've wanted to do. They want to be successful in every competition and perform well in everything they do. Again, it's just managing it all. The boys are so competitive and want to win every single game. We want to progress and go as far as we can.
“Obviously, a bit of incentive is that we got to the area final last year and didn't quite make it to the national final, so the boys want to go one better in that. It’s about turning up on Saturday, performing, and getting the result.”
