Perks ready for Semi-Final showdown at Home Park
Argyle’s exciting FA Women’s National League Cup run could be extended on Sunday when the Greens face Stoke City at Home Park - with a place in the final on the line.
The competition’s semi-final battle at the Theatre of Greens is on the minds of all involved in PL2, but the team’s cup run has given Ryan Perks’ side confidence ahead of the fixture.
The Argyle Head Coach knows the challenge that awaits him and his side on the weekend but is making sure the correct preparations take place ahead of kick-off.
“We’re all looking forward to the game,” Perks told Argyle TV. “It's nice to play a team we haven't played before, but we have had to do a bit of scrambling, using the contacts we've got in the Northern League to get some footage on Stoke to allow us to prepare for the game like we normally do.
“The game does give us a little break from league action where there is a lot more pressure and stress, I suppose. Of course, we’re looking forward to the opportunity to play at Home Park again and hopefully progress to the final.
“Stoke seem to be a well-organised physical side that plays some good football, based on the footage we’ve watched. They beat Burnley in the last round of the competition and are in a good run of form in the Northern League. They're up to fourth in the table and we’re expecting another difficult afternoon but, at this level, there's no easy game.
“We'll go into the game full of confidence. We knocked out a very good Watford side in the last round, so hopefully we can find that form in the 90 minutes and it’ll get us over the line.
“Before playing Hashtag United and Watford, we’d won three of the last four games. Now we are on the back of two defeats, but they are two defeats against two strong sides. There were elements of both games we can take confidence from, especially the game against Hashtag. I thought we were in the game for long periods and played some excellent football. On the flip side, I thought defensively we were okay on Sunday against Watford, but with the ball, we were very poor, so we've got to do both sides of the game, not just one side.
“If we look at the performance in the quarter-final against Watford, we did that. We were good defensively and, when we had our moments, we were good with the ball and were effective in both boxes. We need to do the same again this weekend and focus on ourselves.
“We spoke about it previously; the Green Army’s support gives us that extra 10% and motivation to fight for first and second balls. We want to put on a show for the fans. They came to Tavistock to support us last week and we’re extremely grateful. We want to get a big crowd at Home Park to get behind the girls and hopefully cheer us on to the final.”
Despite a few knockbacks to players in the last match against Watford, Perks is hopeful his side can be at full strength on Sunday through workload management and rest.
He said: “We’ve had a few players missing in training on Wednesday night with a few niggles and bumps and bruises, and a few bugs going around. We're hoping they'll be all okay for Sunday. If not, however, it gives opportunities to other players to come in and take a claim for a position in the team.”