Millwall (A) Edwards' Preview

Forty-four games down, two to go, as far as the Sky Bet Championship season is concerned. 

For Argyle, the two remaining games could be defining. The Greens head to Millwall this Saturday, before the season’s concluding fixture, at home to Hull City, the following Saturday. 

For Joe Edwards, he is reaching the conclusion of a fifth season at Argyle. His tenure at the club has seen him rise to esteemed club captain, and has taken in two promotions in very different circumstances. Edwards, especially reflecting on a special night against Leicester two weeks ago, thinks staying up this season would be an achievement to rival all before. 

“It's been a bit of a rollercoaster,” he said. “We've had some brilliant days and some not so good ones, but as we expected, probably in this league at this level, it's always going to be tough.

“We've enjoyed large parts of it. It's been hard work, but it's nothing you wouldn't expect at this level. This league is renowned for being up and down, a bit chaotic at times, and that's how it's felt really. 

“It hasn't been easy at times this year, so a result like [Leicester] was pure emotion. We were here last year when the atmosphere was amazing and we were going for the league title. We won the league and it was brilliant. I didn't think that could be topped, but that night [against Leicester] it was exceptional. The noise for the whole 90 minutes, was really special and something we were really grateful for. I think it got us over the line in that game. It's done it before and we may need one more of them again.”

Argyle head to Millwall to meet a Lions’ side that have clawed their way out of the danger zone with three consecutive recent wins. Should Argyle win their remaining two fixtures, safety is secured. Fail to win at The Den, and all with a green persuasion will be casting an eye to various other fixtures involving teams within the fallout zone of the relegation area. 

There is an argument to say this needs to be forgotten about, for the players to just pretend it is the same as any other game. 

Edwards does not take that approach. He says it is healthy to discuss the situation, and for the Argyle squad to appreciate the task ahead of them. 

“It's [spoken about] probably every day; it's always on our mind,” he said. “We know the position we're in. It's not a situation where we're not looking at the league table and things like that because it's right in front of you. It's everywhere. We need to know how big these games are, what it takes and what's at stake. I think discussing that is good.

“In this league now is you can't plan what's going to happen, because you think one thing and it's the complete opposite. If we'd have got seven points from the last four games, maybe lost to Leicester and beat Stoke, then everyone's really positive and looking forward.

“We can only control what we do. You like to think of different scenarios in your head, who's going to beat who, and who do we want to beat who but, ultimately, it's down to us. If we don't perform, we don't get a result, which happened at Stoke. 

“We know we have to perform in every game at this level because you get found out. The control is in our hands and that's the way we want to keep it. If we put a performance in that's worthy of the win and we get it, then fantastic. If it goes down to the last game, it goes down to the last game and we'll do that again. 

“I think [Millwall being safe] can work both ways. They could play with a bit more freedom; they've still got the same team, still got some good players. It's still a tough place to go. 

“We'll be doing everything we can to make sure we get the result that we want, and hopefully that's enough. 

“The goal was to stay up; we knew it was going to be tough. We've had some bumps in the road, but we're looking forward to ending it on a high. Hopefully we can have a celebration and look back and be proud of what we achieved.”