Muslic previews Pompey clash
To get to Portsmouth, from Plymouth, you have to travel through the semi-fictional land of Wessex, made famous by Victorian author Thomas Hardy.
Venerated though Thomas was, as one of our finest writers, none of his celebrated protagonists will be able to hold a candle to our own Hardie hero, if he scores on Wednesday.
Ryan, of that ilk, was in fine form, scoring five goals in three games as Argyle hit a purple patch of results, before he injured his back at Blackburn Rovers, and subsequently missed several games.
He returned to action when Argyle met Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, but the damage was done by the time he was introduced at half-time, and a 2-0 deficit turned into a 3-0 loss.
Now, Argyle head to Fratton Park, home of so many dramas in both team’s history, and far from the maddened Home Park crowd of Saturday. The Portsmouth faithful are known for their atmosphere, but the Green Army will doubtless be in good form, travelling in passionate numbers as they always do.
After the weekend’s loss, Argyle Head Coach Miron Muslic sympathised with the fans’ frustrations, and vented a few of his own. Now, speaking just before he and his side hopped aboard the coach to Hampshire, Muslic sounded enthused by the fact that he may have Ryan Hardie back at his disposal.
“Never underestimate the confidence of a striker and the momentum of a striker,” said Muslic. “Having Hardie back with us, finally available after not being selectable for five to six games, that gives us the necessary confidence boost we need and, above all, the offensive threat. We need Hardie [in order] to be more dangerous.
“The reason why we performed was our defensive structure, but also a transition threat, because we managed to defend very well for a long time of the game, and then had the chances to attack. We created goalscoring opportunities, and we had in Hardie, a guy who was capable of finalising those moments for us.
“In the end, these are big moments, and without Ryan, we simply miss that goal threat. It's not about consistently defending; you can't defend all the time because the quality in the competition is so high, individually and collectively. With Ryan, we will have this balance again.”
Portsmouth, promoted last season, are expected to be a mighty opposition. After an initial poor start – they won just one of their first 14, including losing at Home Park in November – they have improved to a 17th position that means they will likely feel, if not comfortable, then optimistic.
At home, they are particularly strong, winning half of their 18 home games, including beating league leaders Leeds United on Saturday.
Miron is aware of Portsmouth’s position, and their famed atmosphere, but as usual the Argyle boss is keen to focus on his own side, and trying to ensure they are playing to their strengths, which he knows they have.
He told Argyle TV: “If you look to the next game and to the challenge in front of us, Portsmouth is a very hostile atmosphere, a fantastic atmosphere: 17,000 and it feels like 37 [thousand]. We know what to expect over there. It will be a fight, and we have to be ready to also pick up this fight.
“These are challenging moments for us, but don't forget this team gave us, just a couple of weeks ago, so many beautiful moments, so many strong performances.
“It is always our task and our responsibility, above all, to protect them and to shield [the players], because the pressure is on and we have to try as much as we can, and as best we can, to protect them, to shield them, so they can actually just focus on the performance.
“The start against Sheffield [Wednesday] was outstanding, the first 10, 12 minutes. That's the momentum for us to score the goal, because the goal [would mean] we rewarded ourselves and we are in. But we could not. Then, out of nowhere, own goal and suddenly the momentum is changing.
“It's up to us to find a good balance to protect them, to shield them, but to give them also the confidence they need. Just nine days ago, the Green Army was so proud of our performance against Man City. Everybody was so proud, everybody was so happy.
“After one or two bad games this changes, and it's about finding a good balance when we are here and not to lose it. We have to stick together, and together we can make it.
“Portsmouth are flying, no doubt; an outstanding win just a couple of days ago against Leeds. It's up to us to face this hostile atmosphere over there; to pick the fight from minute one; to defend properly and to be brave to attack. If we can find this mix, we can also hurt them and we can also attack them.”
