Argyle Under-18s can secure passage into the next round of the EFL Youth Alliance Cup on Friday afternoon when they play Portsmouth away from home at midday.
The Greens are undefeated in the competition so far, having won against Exeter City and Bristol Rovers, and drawn against Newport County at Millennium Fields.
Sitting first in Group 6 with seven points through the three games, Jamie Lowry’s side will find themselves comfortably in the next round of the competition with a win in Hampshire.
Portsmouth cannot progress, however, as they sit on three points, in third place, behind Argyle and Newport, who lose out on top by only goal difference. In the regular Youth Alliance League, Pompey find themselves in mid-table, winning three of their last five games.
Head Coach Lowry is aware of how tough the challenge will be against a strong Portsmouth side but has all the belief that his side can win away from home and progress further in the cup.
“It’ll be a really difficult challenge,” he told Argyle TV. “They have a good style of play, and their coach has coached them well, but it'll be about us and how we can impact the game.
“We'll go with a game plan to try and win. We're doing well now and are in a good position to qualify so we obviously want to. We need to have the right mindset. We’re travelling away from home, and it will be an early start, but these are the things that we're used to. We can then go and perform and show what we're about.”
An important away win in league action on Saturday against Newport County started a hectic 10 days for the Under-18s.
Three days later, the Greens were back in action, picking up a point in a gutsy performance against Bristol City in the Under-18s Professional Development League Cup.
Now a tie in Portsmouth is followed by perhaps the most important game of the season, an FA Youth Cup Third Round trip to Carlisle.
With the busy schedule hard to ignore, Lowry and the Argyle staff are making sure the players’ workload is managed to ensure the best performances possible are achieved before the Christmas break.
“We might wrap them up in cotton wool for the next few days!” he said. “We spoke about load management after the game against Bristol City and it's really important. We alluded to it at the start of this week as well.
“We look after them with what we can do with them, but also away from the club, we try to make sure they get their sleep right, they get plenty of fluids down and they eat properly. All those bits are key.
“It's almost like a first-team schedule, during the Christmas period when they're busy and are playing every couple of days. However, it’s a great experience for us. It allows the lads to go and experience playing in so many games in such a short space of time. They've got to look after themselves and do all the right things as well to go and perform on the pitch.”
