Preview | Argyle Women v Milton Keynes Dons

Argyle Women go into their final game of the season, against Milton Keynes Dons at Manadon Sports and Community Hub, knowing that a win will keep them in the FAWNL Southern Premier Division for another season.

The Greens currently sit 10th in the league on 16 points, just above the relegation zone. Occupying the spot below them are Bridgwater United, two points adrift but with a better goal difference. Bridgwater must win their game against London Bees to have a chance of survival. Bridgwater will jump above Argyle if they win and the Greens lose or draw, since Bridgwater’s goal difference is superior.

“It’s another huge game for us this weekend,” said manager Ryan Perks. “We’ve known that it’s going to go down to the wire for a couple of weeks now. However, it’s nice that it’s in our hands still and we know that a win this weekend keeps us up. If we don’t get the result but results elsewhere go our way, we still stay in the league which was always the objective for this season.

“I said to the girls in training that when we’ve needed to win games this season and the pressure’s been on, they have shown a positive reaction and got the result, so hopefully we can do that this weekend.”

MK Dons stand in the way of Argyle's hopes of safety and a win this weekend will secure fifth place in the league for Charlie Bill’s side. Since the Dons last played Argyle, they’ve faced title contenders Ipswich Town and Portsmouth and come away with one point across the two games.

Like the Dons, Argyle have also secured one point in the league since they last faced each other. After a strong showing against Billericay Town, Perks is confident the girls can keep get a positive result this weekend to keep the club up.

“The players are excited and looking forward to the game this Sunday,” he said. “They’re a bit deflated after losing the cup final on penalties, but we knew this game against MK was a bigger game than Friday night's fixture against Exeter.

“A couple of weeks ago, when we played MK away it was a poor performance for 40 minutes and then after that, we dominated the game. So, there are glimpses in that game that we can go and get a positive result this Sunday.”

Ahead of the team’s final game of the 2022/23 season, Perks has called for fans to come and get behind the girls as they look to end their season on a high.

“We’ve had lots of fans at Home Park this season,” said Ryan. “We had just short of 2,500 against Cardiff, so although Manadon can’t quite hold that capacity it would be lovely to have a large crowd cheering on the players this weekend.

“We’ve gone out into the community this year a lot more then we have in previous years, and I think we’ve inspired a few more generations of younger girls playing football. Hopefully they can get themselves and their families to Manadon, get behind the girls and get us over the line on Sunday.”

Tickets cost £5, and Under-3s go free. If you cannot make it to the game, then updates are available on social media @ArgyleWFC.