Schumacher's Cheltenham Preview

Argyle boss Steven Schumacher has that he will prepare his team for Tuesday night’s Papa Johns Trophy semi-final against Cheltenham Town as if were a regular league fixture.

Mainly, he says, because that is the only way he knows how.

“I’ve never been in a semi-final before, so I wouldn't know how to go about any different!” he said.

“We've done the same routine of what we would've done for a league game. We've debriefed Saturday's game; went over a few things. We got the lads out for a recovery session, and the lads who needed to do a bit extra did so. Tuesday, we'll go through the detail on the screen of the pressing triggers.

“I've watched the game back from the last time we played Cheltenham. It's a team that we know a lot about and we've played against before, but we still need to make sure we're prepared as best as we can be.”

Argyle’s two games against Cheltenham in Sky Bet League One have both ended in Pilgrims victories. At Cheltenham, on Boxing Day, Argyle won 1-0, and just three weeks later, the sides met at Home Park, with the Greens running out 4-2 victors.

Six points from six, but Schumacher knows that both games were close, and far from formalities. Indeed, the away game saw Town miss a glorious late chance, and at Home Park it was 3-2 before Sam Cosgrove sealed it with seven minutes remaining.

Schumacher said: “If we learned anything from the other two games against Cheltenham this season it is that they are really tight games. The first one, when we beat them at their place was close. We could have drew that in the last minute when they had a big chance.

“The game here was close. We couldn't seem to get away from them, but we managed to, just about, in the end. We know we're going to be in for a tough game. It's not going to be easy, and we're going to have to be at our very best."

On Monday morning, advance ticket sales for the game passed the 10,000 mark. The Trophy is tournament that generates the lowest crowds of the season, generally, but the lure of a semi-final and the potential prize beyond has proved hard to resist. Schumacher is delighted with the turnout, as he believes Argyle’s excellent home record in 2022/23 correlates with the backing the team has received all season.

“It's brilliant that we've got over 10,000,” he said. “Hopefully we can get a few more, we can get it to close to 11,000. The more people we have in this stadium, the better the atmosphere is and the better the atmosphere then that really does give the players some energy and belief.

“It’s brilliant that the semi-final is here and we managed to generate that type of crowd. Hopefully we can go and perform for them. It's been a competition that's taken a while for the fans to get behind, but the fans can all see what the prize is and I'm sure if we get through, I'm sure we would sell probably slightly more than 10,000 for Wembley, I would guess.

“I’m excited. It feels good, doesn't it? Saying ‘the semi-final’. A semi-final for anything is always exciting, but a semi-final for a cup competition where the final’s played at Wembley: it doesn't get much better than that. You don't get many opportunities as a player, as a coach or a manager, to go to Wembley Stadium.

“I am so proud to be in a semi-final, and obviously it's a game that we're desperate to win. For Argyle to say we got to Wembley for only the third time in the club's history - to be part of that history would be brilliant. The prize is lucrative and we want to get there, desperately.

“If we get there, it'd be a special occasion, but first we’ve got to work really hard to beat Cheltenham."