Nancekivell praises character shown in Stoke draw
A second game for the stand-in management duo of Kevin Nancekivell and Joe Edwards, and a second draw, albeit in different circumstances to the first.
Three days prior to Argyle’s visit to Stoke City, the Greens had drawn 2-2 with Bristol City in an open, Home Park encounter. The visit to the Potteries was a much more staid affair, with chances infrequent and neither team able to break down the other.
Stoke, with new boss Mark Robins in the dugout for the first time, started brightly with an expectant crowd, but the Pilgrims saw the opening out, and frustrated City for much of the afternoon.
For Argyle, though, with a poor away record and with a serious need to build their points total, this goalless draw added one to the tally, and means that Nancekivell and Edwards are unbeaten as a pair.
“We're relatively pleased,” said a tempered Nancekivell after the game. “A point in the Championship, away from home, is not to be ignored. I’m really pleased for the boys. They dug in, showed great character in the second half, put bodies on the line and got a clean sheet as well.
“You come to these places, with a big crowd, a new manager and a red-hot atmosphere. Everybody put their bodies on the line, they wore the badge and the shirt with pride.
“They had to get the blocks in, get the tackles in and stop crosses. They've done that in abundance.
“There's always a great atmosphere here anyway. It's a big club, they are noisy supporters. We said: ‘we're going to have to withstand a bit of pressure and we're going to have to manage the game’. I thought the lads were excellent at doing that.
“We did have some moments of our own in the first half. I thought we played quite well in the first half and created one or two good opportunities. The game plan was to do that, and we've executed it really well.
“There’s been too many times this season where we've been behind and we've been out of sight before half-time, we definitely weren't that in the first half.
“It's a point; it's not three points. We still want to win away from home, desperately. That was the game plan: to win, it wasn't to draw, but you can’t always get what you want, and we can definitely be happy of a point.
“That's a building block for next week and further on.”
Argyle were backed by a Green Army battalion numbering over 1,400, and the travelling support roared approval at the final whistle, having seen a point and a clean sheet attained.
There are now seven days between games, before Argyle head to Brentford in the Emirates FA Cup. This will then be followed by three home games in a row, with Argyle hoping to capitalise on their home form, which has been stronger than that on the road.
On the travelling fans, Nancekivell said: “What can I say about them? They're outstanding. 1,400 to travel really early this morning, it's a long way, and we haven't been great away from home, have we?
“I think they could see what the lads put in today. They represented the club, the city and the area with real pride today. All we ask for is hard work, effort and attitude - and we got that in abundance today.
“We've got an FA Cup game, a free week now until Brentford, so we can go up to a Premier League team and see what we can do there. We'll have a right good go at them as well.
“Then, we've got some big games coming up at home in the league, which are really, really important. We can recharge our batteries, plan next week and look forward to it with a little bit of excitement.”
