Nancekivell's Wimbledon Preview

Argyle have a chance, on Wednesday night, to reach a prospective Papa Johns Trophy quarter-final tie with Bristol Rovers, but first-team coach Kevin Nancekivell is not looking past AFC Wimbledon, the Pilgrims’ round-of-16 opponents.

The Dons have won their group then beating Sutton United to get to this stage, with Argyle also topping their first stage, before knocking out Charlton Athletic in the second round.

Wimbledon, 12th in Sky Bet League Two, are in good form heading to Home Park, and although Green eyes are understandably casting a glance towards a possible trip to Wembley in three wins’ time, Wimbledon fans will rightly be thinking the same.

“It’s a great chance for us to progress in the competition,” said Nancekivell. “We’ve done well in it so far, and we’ve got a stiff challenge against Wimbledon but we’re looking forward to it.

“They are in a good vein of form, so we know what we’re up against. Hopefully we get the right result, then we can maybe, maybe, maybe start thinking about what could happen.

“We can only focus on the next game, which is Wimbledon. Fingers crossed we get the result, we will be well prepared, we had a good day’s training, and the lads are ready to go.”

Trying to get a handle on what both team line-ups might look like is tough in the competition, as teams tend to use the competition as an opportunity to get some experience into younger players and some valuable minutes for senior players in need of game time.

This, though, is part of the value in the Papa Johns, as Nancekivell explained.

“[The games] have been invaluable for some of the lads to get minutes in that haven’t been playing regularly or have been coming back from injury. Also, for young lads to get games in a first-team environment, on the pitch in a cup competition, with senior players, has been fantastic. We’ve seen a lot of them involved, and hopefully we’ll see more on Wednesday night.

“They have to earn the right, first of all, to be involved in the squad, and then getting a chance to start in the team. They have done that, and when they have done they have taken their opportunity.

“The gaffer has shown in his time here that he is prepared to put them in if they are good enough. Age isn’t a barrier. When they have played they haven’t let anyone down and have done the club proud.

“[Wimbledon have] made changes in the Papa Johns Trophy, as we have. To gauge their team is a little more difficult than if it was a league game, but they will want to keep their run of form going. They’ll be saying the same things we are saying. They see a potential trip to Wembley not too far away too, and they’ll come down expecting to give us a right good game.

“We want to keep the momentum going. We had a great win on Saturday, a really good performance. Everyone has come in with a spring in their step, and we’re good to go.”