Argyle Women travel to Exeter City on Wednesday night for a Devon derby at St James Park, with the Greens looking to rise to the occasion against their local rivals.
The Pilgrims make the short trip across Devon following Sunday’s heartbreaking FA Cup exit against Millwall Lionesses, having conceded a 94th-minute equaliser before losing on penalties.
Despite the disappointment, the focus has quickly shifted to FA Women’s National League action, with Head Coach Matt Green confident his young side will embrace the challenge of facing a good Exeter outfit.
He said: “Exeter are having a good season, and they’ve got some experienced players in there, including a couple who we know very well. But we know what we are up against.
”We will go into it as underdogs, I’m sure that’s not a surprise to people, but we will go and give it a really good go.
“One thing this group of players have shown us this year is that they will fight for this badge and give everything they can for the 90 minutes plus whatever added time there is.”
With Exeter enjoying a positive start to the campaign and home advantage, Wednesday’s fixture will also offer another valuable experience for Argyle’s young squad.
Green expects a strong attendance at St James Park and believes the occasion will help his players as they continue to develop.
“The game will be at St James Park so I’m sure there will be a big crowd. Normally when we come and play there, there’s at least a couple of thousand that come up and support both sets of teams. That will be a new experience for a lot of our younger players and another step up in their footballing journey.
“The pressure is on Exeter. We haven’t won any games in the league so far, and they have won a few, so let’s see what we can go and do there.”
Argyle will be hoping to carry the positives from Sunday’s cup tie into the derby. New signing Millie Pullen was one of those, having scored on her debut against Millwall. The forward also showed her versatility by moving into a less familiar position after striker Laura Curnock was forced off through injury early on.
Green was full of praise for the attacker and believes her skill and experience could play a key role in the Pilgrims’ season.
He said: “Millie probably played a little bit more than we planned for on Sunday with Laura going off. She had to play as a nine for us, but she did that superbly and showed great mentality to take the new role on.
”It was a great debut for her, and we look forward to what she can bring to the team for the rest of the season.”
Curnock is being assessed ahead of Wednesday’s trip and remains a doubt, while Green and his coaching staff have also been mindful of managing players’ workloads following Sunday’s 90 minutes and penalty shootout.
With another test awaiting them, Argyle will look to move on from the weekend and focus their energy on the Devon derby.
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Watch Green's full preview on Argyle TV here.