Schumacher's Cheltenham Preview
For the sixth season in a row, Argyle are away on Boxing Day. For the second season in succession, their opponents are Cheltenham Town.
The Pilgrims head to Gloucestershire top of Sky Bet League One, at the start of a busy Christmas of fixtures, which will conclude with two home fixtures, against Wycombe Wanderers and MK Dons.
Before that, though, the familiar surroundings of Cheltenham where, on Boxing Day last season, Argyle won 2-0, with goals from Panutche Camara and Jordon Garrick.
“We know the way,” said Argyle manager Steven Schumacher. “We don’t need the sat-nav to get to the hotel.
“It’s going to be another good game, hopefully. The previous games we have had there against them on Boxing Day have been entertaining. Last year’s one, we got a great result, and hopefully we can put on another good performance in front of what will be another sell-out in the away end.
“If we get the same performance and result as we did last year, then no-one will moan, no-one will complain, and it will have been a good day.
“For us to do that, we have to make sure we play really well. It’s going to be a hard game. It’s always tough, every time we go there. The pitch feels really small, you have to battle and fight, and earn the right, which we did last year. We counter-attacked twice for two goals. It might be something similar this year.
“I love the Boxing Day matches, I just wish that we’d get one at home. I don’t think it’s fair that we’ve had six on the spin away from home. It would be nice for our fans to enjoy a local Christmas, not have to worry about driving the next day, and go to our local pubs on Boxing Day.”
Cheltenham, managed by Wade Elliott, are 17th in League One, but have lost only two of their last nine games, and only one of their last seven home fixtures.
Strikers Alfie May and Dan Nlundulu have eight goals between them so far, and were highlighted by Schumacher as threats when the sides meet on Monday, as well as Cheltenham’s strong defensive record.
“They don’t give you too much,” he said. “They’ve won 1-0 five times, so it shows how defensively solid they are, and how organised they are.
“Their defenders are physical, no nonsense, and they defend their goal well. They have under-performed on what their expected goals would be. They create some real good chances and haven’t been clinical with them.
“We need to make sure we don’t give them too many chances because we know Alfie May is a quality player at this level, and Dan Nlundulu is a handful. Defensively we have to be on it, and we need to pass the ball as well as we possibly can on a tight pitch.”
