Academy Preview | Swansea City (H)
Argyle’s Under-18s are back in action on Saturday at 2pm, as they meet Swansea City at Millennium Fields in Plymouth for another fixture in the Under-18 Professional Development Cup.
The Young Pilgrims arrive at this week’s game following a frustrating Wednesday night, as the scheduled FA Youth Cup match against Cheltenham Town was postponed due to heavy rain and poor pitch conditions.
Manager Darren Way gave his thoughts on how this affected the players. “The referee had no choice apart from to call it off.
I think it was important that we got the players in straight away and made sure that they resume focus for the game on Saturday now. It's disappointing when you know everyone makes the effort, you build the players up for a big occasion. It was unfortunate, there's nothing we can do - the weather got the better of us.”
Argyle will be facing Swansea City, a team from a higher category academy, who arrive at this match in a good form, after winning three games in a row. Way is a big enthusiast of his players being allowed to face teams from higher categories, following a similar game against Bristol City in which Argyle narrowly lost 3-2.
“It's always a good test for us in this competition,” said Way. “We're playing against teams up a higher category, then also in terms of their facilities and the players that they've produced over the years. It's excellent for our players to face that challenge. They are a good club, they’ve got good people and they play the right way, so we're all looking forward to it.
“We’re expecting the same sort of test that we had against Bristol City. The quality of players that you face normally at that level is a little bit tougher, so players must deal with that.
“From our Bristol City game, it was good to speak to Brian Tinnion after the game and an opportunity for them to see us at 18s level. They gave us an invitation that they want us to go back, so it's another fixture that we can schedule where helps improve us as an Academy. That's the good thing with these games: it gives us a good opportunity to enhance our reputation.”
Way, who used to play for Swansea, also took time to praise the Swans’ evolution over the years and emphasizes the similarities with an ambitious club like Argyle who work every day towards their objectives.
“It’s the same ambition we've got as a football club,” Way said. “They've produced a lot of their own players over several years and they've sold for substantial fees. They've come a long way in a short space of time. We want to make sure that we compete against these teams; I've got no doubt with the way our football club is being run at the moment we're going in the same direction.”
