Rooney previews opening day Wednesday trip
Pre-season is over, the talking is done, and the real stuff is back.
Sky Bet Championship football returns this Sunday as Argyle head to Hillsborough to take on Sheffield Wednesday - live on Sky Sports.
The Pilgrims travel to Yorkshire with a new man at the helm, and there isn’t a person in Devon more excited for the season to get underway this weekend than Argyle Head Coach Wayne Rooney.
“It is really exciting time,” Rooney said. “The last week before the season starts is always a difficult week because you have decisions to make on your starting line-up, which players are going to start, be on the bench, or not part of the squad.
“But the other bits are exciting. Finalising travel plans, working on our shape, giving tactical information to the players, how we want to play and how we want to press is everything we’ve been working on this week.
“The players have been really good; taken on the information we have given them and now it is over to us to deliver a performance. There is nothing quite like that match day feeling and we have all really missed it.”
Rooney will be looking to his side to tick off a number of ‘firsts’ in the opening weeks, and Sunday sees an opportunity for Argyle to tick off two in one go, the first win - and away win - of the season.
He added: “It is important in any season that you get your first win as quickly as you can. You are always hoping that it is in the first game, if you start well then it puts you in a good position and good frame of mind to go into the next game.
“Our full focus is on Sheffield Wednesday. There are bits of them we have seen from pre-season, but it is difficult to analyse and prepare as you normally would, for instance next week it will be easier. We know how we want to go and play, and how we want to go and win the game.”
Argyle’s opponents have strengthened over the summer and finished last season as one of the in-form sides in the division, while Hillsborough is often a difficult place to visit. That doesn’t faze Rooney though, who is looking for his side to put their own stamp on proceedings.
“Wednesday have made some good signings. Similarly to us they have done a lot of their transfer work early in the window, so Danny [Rohl] will have had time to implement his ideas on them,” he commented.
“The first 20 minutes will be important. We expect them to be physical and on the front foot and we know Hillsborough will be a raucous atmosphere.
“But it is about us getting through that and then putting our own stamp on the game and showing what we can do and what we have been working on. The quicker we can quieten their crowd down and get them to turn on them then we will be doing well.”
Over 1300 of Green Army will make the trip to South Yorkshire this Sunday and Rooney has already been blown away by the support of the Argyle faithful, and that has only been in pre-season.
He concluded: “The support is incredible. I have seen it first hand for the pre-season games and had a taste for the long distances.
“The money they spend on travel and tickets is unbelievable, and now it is our job to repay it. We are grateful to have a fan base like we do, and it is our job to send them home happy.”
