Argyle Women’s Head Coach Ryan Perks is making sure his side focuses on the recent positive performances when preparing for a tough challenge on the road at Lewes this weekend.
The Greens return to FA Women’s National League Southern Premier Division action at the Dripping Pan on Sunday, 6 October, facing a side relegated from the Championship last season.
Perks states his side needs to turn strong performances into points, with a heavy league schedule coming in October.
“I’m looking forward to the challenge this weekend,” he told Argyle TV. “We know it’s going to be a difficult test. Lewes came down from the Championship last year and started a little bit slow, but they've picked up results, so it's going to be tough. Any away trip is tough.
“I think even if we look at last weekend's result [4-1 against Maidenhead United], it was probably made a little bit more difficult by the travel. We’ve had better preparation this week. We're going up the night before, so it gives us a little bit more time with the players, but we've got to go and get a job done this weekend. We need three points in the league. We need to start picking up points and hopefully we can get that started this Sunday.
“We're moving in the right direction. I think the performances have been there, although the results in the league haven't. We were unlucky not to get anything from the Oxford United game at home and Billericay Town away, but that's football. Sometimes you don't get what you deserve, so we've got to look at the positives.
“We've got to believe in what we're doing and how we want the girls to play. They're starting to execute that regularly. We've had lots of summer transitions with players coming in and leaving. It takes a bit of time for the team to gel and implement our ideas across to those players. We're starting to see that happening.
“We've got to turn these performances into points though. It’s a tough league. Any point is a good point. The aim for this weekend is three points, but the ultimate aim is to not lose the game of football and come away with something on the road.”
A 4-1 win over Maidenhead United in the FA Women’s National League Cup the previous weekend will boost Argyle’s confidence in front of goal, but Perks still believes his side can improve and be more clinical when scoring.
He said: “We've had a little bit of reflection. I watched the game back and saw we created several goalscoring opportunities. I think we had between 19 and 22 attempts at goal, hit the target with six of them and scored four, so the ratio once we've hit the target is not too bad. It's just making sure we're a little bit more clinical and that we make the keeper work.
“We’ve just got to keep building from that. Even in the Billericay game, we had lots of chances, it's just that final product, which we know we've got in the squad. We relied on Charlotte [Whitmore] and Ellie [Sara] lots last season, but we've added in Georgia Wilson, who's popped up with a few goals, Ava [Kuyken] scored on the weekend, and we've got a variety of different scorers this season so far already.
“We're not as reliant on just the strikers to score. If they have an off day, we've got goals elsewhere this season in the team. In league games, especially when you're playing the tougher teams, you have fewer opportunities in front of goal, so we've got to make sure we take those chances.”
The game against Lewes starts a busy week of action for Argyle Women, with home ties against Exeter City and Ipswich Town taking place within the following week. Perks is aware of the challenge ahead but is hopeful of turning performances into points over the next nine days.
“It’s going to be a difficult week next week,” Perks said. “I'm not going to sit here and sugarcoat it. We've got three tough games against Lewes, Exeter and Ipswich. They all bring their challenges, and we’ve got limited time to prepare for each after one another. It’s going to be a busy week, so we have to utilise the squad as best as we can, but the aim is to win football games.
“We’ve done our homework and research on all three teams, and we'll focus on Lewes over the next few days. Monday turns to Exeter, and then Thursday turns to Ipswich. We've got a group of players who are determined and strong and have shown good resilience. Hopefully, we can get lots of points on the board this week.
“We’re back to pretty much full strength. Taya [Pomfret] is back in, and Georgia is back. We rested Imy [Crawford] last week. She had a little problem with her calf, and she trained well last night.
“The only real injury is Grace Smith, as she’s struggling with her foot and we’re just waiting for some results. We’ve pretty much got everyone available, which means we’ve got some tough decisions with the starting 11 this week. However, we've got a busy schedule so we're going to utilise the squad across the upcoming three games.”
