Argyle Women face another tough FA Women’s National League test on the road when they travel to face Oxford United this Sunday at 3pm.
Matt Green’s side head to Court Place Farm following last weekend’s defeat to Portsmouth, with table-topping Oxford awaiting them.
Despite the result, the Pilgrims were competitive for long periods against Portsmouth, who are a full-time side, particularly during the opening 45 minutes.
Green was pleased with the way his players stuck to their approach and made life difficult for their opponents.
“I think if there are good and bad defeats, it would go down as a positive defeat,” he said. “We frustrated them for a large part of the first half. From the people I have spoken to, and the players and staff, we felt that we went in at half-time 2-0 down when we probably didn’t deserve to be.
“I think 0-0 would have been a decent reflection of that first 45 minutes.
“Both first-half goals were really unfortunate, but it was positive at half-time. We spoke to the girls about how well they played. The game plan was working and we frustrated them. Their manager was getting frustrated, we could see that in the technical area.”
Portsmouth eventually added two further goals after the break, but the contest gave Argyle plenty of positives to work with ahead of their trip to Oxford.
The U’s have enjoyed a strong start to the season with four league wins, 17 goals scored and zero conceded.
Green has been impressed by what he has seen from Liam Gilbert’s side, but believes his own players have the qualities to make life difficult for them.
The Argyle Women’s Head Coach said: “We have watched back Oxford’s last couple of games, and I have got to say Liam has got them playing some fantastic football.
”He has recruited well in the summer and arguably got the best player in the league in Sophie Quirk, who is dangerous whenever she gets on the ball.
“The game comes with its challenges, but we will have a game plan. It might be the same [as Portsmouth], it might not be, but we will go there and, as always, we will give our best and what will be, will be.
”We spoke before the Portsmouth game and told the players they just have to go out there in these two games, give it their best and show what they are capable of.
“A lot of the girls came off thinking that we have just gone toe-to-toe with Portsmouth and we hassled them.
“They will take a lot of learning from that game, and it will be the same again this Sunday. We know that Oxford will come at us and we have got to be aware of that.
”But we will go there and see what we can achieve as individuals and as a collective.”
Green believes Sunday’s fixture will be another part of the players’ learning, as he continues to oversee a young squad adjusting to the demands of senior football.
Speaking to Argyle TV on the development of his team, Green said: “I think it is going well so far. From a personal point of view, I have enjoyed every minute of the process that we are going through.
”It is a project. I have made no secrets and neither has the club in terms of where we are this year and where we need to be over the next two or three seasons.
“Everybody is on board with that from the staff and the players to the board.
”We are all well aware of what we need to achieve over the next few years, and you take real positives when clubs come to you and start talking about your players.
“I think some of our young players are starting to get a little bit used to that now when we say the opposition will be looking at them as a threat or the other team are coming off the pitch saying how well our players did.
”These youngsters are going to get noticed. We are giving them the platform to get noticed and it is our job to hold onto those youngsters over the next couple of years, which is fully what I intend to do.”
--
You can watch Matt Green’s full interview on Argyle TV here.