Neil's Wembley Way

Argyle Director of Football Neil Dewsnip has called on an old acquaintance who knows a thing or two about Wembley victories to provide a bit of advice ahead of Sunday’s Papa Johns Trophy final.

Steve Holland is England boss Gareth Southgate’s assistant manager, and worked with Dewsnip at the Football Association.

On Sunday, one week before Argyle play at Wembley against Bolton Wanderers, Holland was on the bench alongside Southgate at the national stadium, as the management duo racked up their 26th Wembley win with the Three Lions, as England beat Ukraine 2-0.

“I spoke to Steve Holland a few weeks ago and asked for guidance, support and advice,” said Neil. “He made some good points. He talked about the size of the pitch, so we checked the size of the pitch in relation to Home Park. There's very little difference; we would have grown up with a kind of belief that Wembley was massive, big open spaces and so on, but it is not particularly bigger than Home Park, actually.

“He talked to us about the dressing rooms. He talked to us about where the dugouts are in relation to the pitch and how to manage that. We had a really good chat. His insight was helpful.

“I spent six years working at the FA. It would be silly not to utilise that that expertise. We're trying to use everything that we've got to give our players and our fans the best chance of success.”

While the exceptional circumstances of the occasion – this is only Argyle’s third visit to Wembley, and the first in a cup final – necessitate measures to get everything exactly right, certain things need to stay as normal as possible, says Neil, to ensure the players go into the game in the right mental and physical state. Manager Steven Schumacher is staying to a tried and tested method of preparation before Argyle will travel to the capital on Saturday afternoon.

“Steven wants to keep preparation as close as possible to every other game that we've played this season, which is very sensible,” said Neil. “Steven thought it was very important to train at Harper's Park before we left. Preparation will be, in essence, no different to any other game.

“The difference will be it's a Sunday fixture as opposed to a Saturday, and we will jump on the coach on Saturday afternoon after training, rather than Friday. We will get to London, stay over and then go to Wembley.”

With eight games to go in the Sky Bet League One season, Argyle sit top of the division, in the midst of what increasingly looks to be a battle between four teams – Argyle, Sheffield Wednesday, Ipswich Town and Barnsley – for two promotion slots.

If the Greens could win on Sunday, then finish the season strongly, a unique league and cup double achievement beckons. There is plenty more to do before then, which Neil acknowledges, but he is also keen that Argyle achieve something to reward so many people at every level of the football club.

He said: “I would like the fans to know that – from chairman Simon Hallett, all the way down - we've got a greedy mindset. We want to achieve a cup and promotion double.

“We're pleased because everyone at Argyle works really, really hard.

“I can't promise that this happens every single season - football doesn't work like that – but I'm really pleased for everybody at the club that we are having the success that we're having.”

Neil stressed that there was one other vital group of people that he was keen to acknowledge, for whom he would dearly love Argyle to attain success.

He said: “The first day I set foot in Home Park, I knew that Plymouth Argyle didn’t have a reputation for winning cups or being in the Premier League, but what I realised straight away was that it had an unbelievable asset called the Green Army.

“We’ve played Bolton twice this season, and those games proved that there is very little difference between the two teams. It will be a really, really intriguing encounter.

“We’re in the process now of preparing for it because not only do we want to perform well, we want to win.

“We want to win for all the right reasons, not least of all is that 38,000 of the Green Army will be there.

“The Green Army is Plymouth Argyle. They are fantastic.”