Argyle travel to Bedfordshire on Wednesday night to face Luton Town in an important match at the bottom of the Sky Bet Championship table.
The tie at Kenilworth Road sees the 23rd and 24th place sides in the league battle for three points, which could ‘make or break’ their season, in the words of Argyle Head Coach Miron Muslic.
After suffering defeat to Blackburn on Saturday, Muslic, his staff and squad are all aware of the potential pressure of the battle with Luton but believe Argyle can pull a performance together, like weeks gone by, and get a result away from home.
“It is big [Wednesday night], no doubt,” Muslic told Argyle TV. “The pressure is there, but that is just part of our journey, and we must deal with that. In the last three or four weeks, we’ve shown the character to face this and if you purely look at the standings in the table, you know it's a big one.
“It's bigger than Liverpool in terms of the importance of the game. We know this. We will have good structure, good organisation and a cool mindset. If we manage to do this, we will have opportunities to be successful.
“We must find the right balance as staff [in preparation for the game], and I think we did it well over the last couple of weeks to deliver a clear message and for players to feel it.
“First of all, with organisation and structure and then later with a big, big heart because if you do everything just purely emotionally, you will lose this fire very quickly. We are on a good way to having this balance and to recognise the importance of the upcoming games.
“They are all important. It's just a couple of days later the next big one and that's for us to stay calm, clean, organised and in our structure. We showed also, especially in the last couple of games, that we can be dangerous for any opponent.
“There’s definitely no room in our space or our locker room to panic. There are a lot of make-or-break games, but that's just the situation we are in, and we need to be aware of it without losing our minds completely. If you lose your mind after one little setback, you are point black and start from zero again.
“We are gradually improving visibly on the pitch week by week. This will also be our guidance to face these make-or-break games. It's not only the next one, but also almost 14 of them. That's why we need to be calm. We need to be cool, and we need to go outside and believe in us.”
Argyle’s number nine Ryan Hardie had prolific success in the last month, scoring five goals in three games before Blackburn, including a penalty against Liverpool in the historic FA Cup win at Home Park.
After 20 minutes, however, at Ewood Park, the Scotsman was replaced by Michael Baidoo. Muslic gave an update on his situation.
He said: “Unfortunately, [Ryan] Hardie is very doubtful for Wednesday. The schedule is heavy and busy. We demand a lot from the players, but I think the players are also doing fantastic. That's why I like to come back to a strong and deep squad.
“We need everyone involved and are changing more or less two to three times a game by game. We need always fresh legs, so it's never about losing one player. It's always finding about finding the solution, but, as always, the solutions are exactly inside of a frame.
“We see that stuff as always being an opportunity. It's a chance for another one to step in and shine. That's why we are very happy with what we are seeing daily in training, from the guys who are not playing. They are pushing to play and right now there will be opportunities for them to play and they are ready.”
