Match Preview | Exeter City v Argyle
The 114th Devon Derby between Argyle and Exeter City will be one of the most important - at least as far as Argyle are concerned.
With six games remaining in the Sky Bet League One season, the Pilgrims are second in the table, a point behind Sheffield Wednesday, with a game in hand on the Owls. Ipswich Town are a further point back.
Exeter could end up being the kingmakers in the run-in, as the Grecians have all of the aforementioned top three to play in what remains of the season.
City have little to play for themselves. They are an almost dictionary definition of mid-table - 12th position, 15 points behind the play-off spots, 15 above the drop zone - but this should not be decried, given that this is Exeter's first season in the third tier since 2011/12. They were promoted from League Two last season, having lost the play-off final in three of the five previous seasons.
City's season has been littered with inconsistency. They ended a run of six home games without a win by winning four on the spin at St James Park, which included a 5-0 win over Accrington Stanley and a 3-1 victory over Barnsley. Most recently at home, though, they lost 1-0 to Bolton Wanderers. Either side of that loss, Exeter drew 2-2 at Fleetwood Town and lost 3-1 at Peterborough United.
Sam Nombe is Exeter's top goalscorer. The 24-year-old former Milton Keynes Dons forward has 15 to his name this season, including one at Home Park, when the two Devon rivals met in October.
On that day, Argyle emerged 4-2 winners, but not before Archie Collins and then Nombe had given Exeter 1-0 and 2-1 leads. Argyle, though, powered back, and after Morgan Whittaker had scored their first goal to make it 1-1, a second equaliser came via a glorious Bali Mumba strike, before substitute Ryan Hardie took the game away from City with a double.
The game was an early one for Gary Caldwell, who had only taken over as Exeter manager the week before. As a player, centre-back Caldwell played 55 times for Scotland, as well as lengthy club spells at Hibernian, Celtic and Wigan Athletic. He would later become a coach and then manager of Wigan, going on to also manage Chesterfield and Patrick Thistle.
Kick-off Time
Remember - the game kicks off at midday.
Schumacher Says
“When we go out onto the pitch, make sure that we're fired up and ready to go. We've got to compete for every ball that you can. That's the first thing you've got to do in derby game; you've got to show that you're ready to stand up and fight. Then, after that, play football when you can.
“The message will be to try to be in the game, and try and get that first goal if we can. It’s so important in big derby games.
“When the fixtures were released, we looked at it and thought: ‘we're playing them with only six games to go.’ We knew that that could be quite feisty and that's how it's turned out."
Team News
Schumacher reports that Adam Randell and Niall Ennis will be included in the squad, following injuries which have kept them out for several weeks. Brendan Galloway will have a cast fitted for a broken hand, while Bali Mumba was due to have tests to an injured knee to see if he could be passed fit.
Tickets
Tickets are sold out for away supporters. Anyone without a ticket should not travel.
For information on collections, duplicates and more, see this guide.
A Strip for the Trip
Argyle will be wearing our home kit for this game.
Argyle TV
The game will be covered on Argyle TV, with commentary from Charlie Price and Ian Stonebridge. Both will be on hand for a pre-match show which will be available for free on YouTube from 11am.
The game is available to stream for domestic and overseas supporters.
