Rotherham United (H) Schumacher's Preview

It has been a quick turnaround for Argyle this week, with a Wednesday night game at Queens Park Rangers, but manager Steven Schumacher says his side are ready for Saturday’s visit by Rotherham United.

It was into the early hours of Thursday by the time Schumacher and the team pulled up in their coach into the Home Park car park, but were in the following day for recovery sessions, and Schumacher believes that physically his team are set for the challenge.

Rotherham are bottom of the Sky Bet Championship, but have appointed Leam Richardson as their new manager, and Schumacher is warning against any sort of complacency.

“We're playing against a team who are around us in the league,” said Schumacher. “We know that Rotherham have just changed their manager as well - they're going to be really up for it. They'll see this as an opportunity for them to come and get a win away from home because they'll see us quite close to them in the league.

“I know Leam Richardson really well. I know how well his Wigan team did, um, both in League One and in the Championship, so I know he'll have them really well organised. They always play with energy anyway, Rotherham. They're one of the fittest teams in the league, who put you under loads of pressure.

“It's going to be a hard game. I know they're at the bottom of the league, but we know it's going to be a tough one and we have to be at our best.

“I've seen Leam's comments, when he first took the job, saying he's not here to start a revolution and change too much. I think he understands what Rotherham are about as a club.

“They did really well last year in the Championship and this year again, you can see what they're about. They're about industry, they have some talented players, especially in the wide areas, they've got speed, really well organised and hard to play against.

“I watched the Leeds game and Ipswich game live, they got good results against both of them. They’re a real threat from set plays and long throws, so they know what they are and they're really good at it.

“Physically, any game takes it out of players. Although we went down to ten men, the running stats, the distances and the intensity that we put in wasn't too dissimilar from what we'd have if we had 11 players, because we didn't do a lot of attacking with the ball, which takes up a lot of our energy.

“From a physical point of view, it shouldn't be too bad. It's just trying to make sure everyone's ready to go and they've recovered from that really late night.

“We need to make sure that we're ready for that type of battle.”

Home Park is set for another large crowd, following games on the road this week for the Green Army. The Argyle side were backed by approximately 3,000 supporters at Leicester City then 2,000 at Queens Park Rangers, and on each occasion the level of noise and backing was exceptional.

Schumacher agrees. “We've just come off the back of two really tough away games,” he said, “and our support has been outstanding. The support that we got at Leicester was different class and then the same on Wednesday night. The players responded to that support.

“We need Home Park on Saturday to be bouncing. When this place is good, the atmosphere is good and the fans are at it, then quite often we see our players be on it.

“That will be the message for me. It is a big game. We are aware. The fans are all aware of how important the game is, and we need everybody to be at their best.”