Norwich City (A) | Foster's Preview

There was no game for Argyle last week, with Sky Bet Championship football on hiatus for international football, and the Greens are back in action this Easter weekend, with a trip to Norwich City on Good Friday. 

After the last game, against Preston North End, the Argyle squad went their separate ways. Some had time off to recharge batteries, and freshen up ahead of the final push towards the end of the season. 

For several others, it was a case of joining up with international units, and getting experience in other spheres. 

Even as Argyle get ready for the visit to Carrow Road, the squad is not yet full reformed. 

“It's been a really busy period coming into the March international window,” said Head Coach Ian Foster. “A lot of the players have had time with their families, time off, an opportunity to recharge physically and mentally. The idea was always, regardless of the result against Preston, to give them some time off. 

“On the flip side of that, a lot of players have had busy periods, a lot of travel and some difficult international fixtures. As we sit here on Wednesday, we're still waiting on a few players to come back. We actually won't get one of the players back until he meets us at the hotel in Norwich just because of his travel arrangements.

“That's a challenge in itself. It's match-day minus two, which would normally be a tactical day, but we can't really operate like that today.

“It's challenging, but it's a testament to the players and the football club in terms of how far it’s come, that we have as many as we do representing their countries.”

With eight games remaining this season, the goal remains – as it has always been – for Argyle to stay in the division. Those eight games will come in an approximately five-week period, and the Greens will need an uptick in form to achieve a points total that is enough to stay above the dreaded dotted line. 

Foster outlined just how important it is for Argyle to stay up: “It means everything. I appreciate the journey that the club have been on, and the wonderful strides and achievements they've made over the course of the last few seasons.

“This is a football club that's used to winning games of football, and perhaps we haven't done that regularly enough in the Championship, but that's just the nature of the beast. It's an incredibly difficult division. It's probably the tightest division out of the four. For us to stay in it would mean the world.

“That's what we're aiming to do. We want to do it in a certain way, and every game's a challenge. We know that, at the moment, our performances haven't been where we'd want them.

“It's just not falling for us, but what we haven't lost is any belief in what we do and how we do it. We're desperately trying to arrest the run of results and turn some performances into wins.”

Friday’s hosts Norwich are in excellent form, unbeaten in 11 at home, and sixth in the division, so they pose a significant challenge. 

That said, they sat fifth in the division when, in the eighth game of the campaign, Argyle beat the Canaries 6-2 at Home Park, so there is certainly hope that the squad could have the answer to unlocking the Norwich puzzle one more time. 

“Norwich are on a fantastic run of late,” said Foster. “We’ve got to go to Carrow Road and find a way of upsetting them. We're capable of doing that. 

“It'll be very difficult, but we look forward to it. They're a really expansive team. They put numbers on your back line, they try to overload you in central areas.

“They've got some wonderfully gifted players, but we'll go there with a plan and we'll try to get the result that we want.”