Schumacher's Accrington Preview

Two weeks ago, Argyle reacted to a defeat by Peterborough United by winning consecutive games, on a Saturday and a Tuesday night.

The first part of a plan to make history repeat itself came last weekend, when Argyle’s response to a previous defeat by Barnsley was to beat Forest Green Rovers at Home Park. Now, the Pilgrims head to Accrington Stanley, who Argyle beat 3-0 earlier in the season, to try to bag a second three-point haul of the week.

Stanley are 21st in Sky Bet League One, and while their motivation will be the same as Forest Green’s – points to aid a survival bid – Argyle manager Steven Schumacher anticipates a different approach to the game from John Coleman’s Accrington, who lost 1-0 at home to Milton Keynes Dons last time.

“After a good result on Saturday, the confidence should be right there for our players,” said Schumacher. “They'll all be desperate to play and we look forward to the game.

“We know that every time you go to Accrington, it’s always a tough night. We need to make sure we're ready for that.

“It'll be a similarly tough game, but I think the styles will be completely different because Forest Green came here with a plan on Saturday to sit back and defend in their own half.

“Every time you play Accrington, they're completely different to that. They are one of the highest pressing teams in the league; they come and get right after you, they're aggressive.

“I remember in the first game here, for half an hour, they caused us loads of problems and forced us into mistakes. We expect the game like that where they'll get on the front foot.

“They need to win. They had a tough result on Saturday against MK Dons on, so I'm sure they'll be looking to put that right.

“When we lost against Peterborough and then won back-to-back home games, we thought: ‘come on, we might just get going again’ - and then we had a tough day at Barnsley, which stopped that momentum.

“We won on Saturday, bounced back again and showed brilliant character. If we can back it up with another good result on Tuesday night, then that's great. We've got a little bit of a break then until our next couple of league games, which is over the Easter period, and obviously there's loads of points to play for over that weekend.

“It is nice to get on momentum and get on a run, but we'll just focus on the one game and take each game as it comes. We know there's only nine left in the league. Every one of them is huge.”

After a spell out with injury, Dan Scarr made the bench against Forest Green, and with Tyreik Wright and Conor Grant getting closer to fitness after their setbacks, Schumacher will once again have a large squad from which to select his 11.

“The more players you've got to choose from, the better the options and everyone's then got to be on top of their game,” he said. “That's the beauty of having a strong squad. We know I've made rotations and have made changes throughout the season, but there's going to be a time where people know that if they play well and keep their shirt, then it's going to give them a massive advantage.

“If they play well, then we've got a decent chance of winning the game. It’s good to have people back. I know there's going to be a few sore bodies, probably, from Saturday's game, so we’ll assess that and pick a team that can fight and compete, and try to win at Accrington.”