Schumacher's Morecambe Preview

It is unusual to start a preview article about a match by speaking about two completely different football teams, but bear with us.

In discussion of Argyle’s upcoming trip to Morecambe, Greens boss Steven Schumacher cited Forest Green Rovers’ recent win over Sheffield Wednesday as a reason for Argyle to show caution at the Mazuma Stadium.

Morecambe are 22nd in Sky Bet League One, scrapping for their third-tier existence, much like Forest Green, who caused arguably the upset of the season when they recently beat Wednesday 1-0.

Morecambe, managed by former Pilgrims’ boss Derek Adams, have only won one of their last 13 games, but have a reasonable record on their own patch, and are sure to make things difficult for promotion-seeking Argyle.

Schumacher told Argyle TV: “The result that Forest Green got against Sheffield Wednesday was a reminder to everybody, if you didn't know, that it doesn't matter where people are in the division, you've got to make sure that you are at it and your performance is right.

“We managed to take maximum points from Forest Green and Accrington who were in a similar position to Morecambe in the league.

“We expect a tough game from Morecambe. One of our old managers is their manager. We know that Derek’s teams will always be really well organised. They've got a threat when they counter attack and break, and they can score goals from outside the box. we need to make sure that we're prepared for that.”

The trip to the North West will come five days after Argyle lost the final of the Papa Johns Trophy to Bolton Wanderers.

After Sunday’s game, the Argyle squad, along with their families, stayed in London and headed home the following day, with Schumacher keen to bring everyone in on Tuesday, and draw a metaphorical line under the defeat.

This week’s attention has been on focusing on the final eight games of the season, starting with Morecambe, and emphasising what a strong position the club are in going into the run-in.

“Everyone was really disappointed on Sunday, and then Monday we had to travel back from London,” said Schumacher. “It was good on Tuesday to get the players in because we had a load of under-8s in, who are going to be the next crop of academy graduates. It was good to see them and lighten the mood a little bit.

“Today's training session was really sharp. We spoke on Tuesday morning to the players about it. We didn't go into the detail of the game, but we just said: ‘we're ready to go again. We have to be positive. Stick together as a group and we'll be okay.’

“We would've said that if we'd have won the game anyway. If we'd have won on Sunday, we'd have been having the same conversation with the players on Tuesday.

“They all knew that anyway. The players are not draft. They get that the final was a big day, and it would've been an unbelievable thing to win the first trophy for the club in our history, but the league and the last eight games were always going to be more important.

“I'm sure the players will be desperate to put in a good performance and get a reaction. We'll give them all the information that we think is necessary and then we'll do our best to try to win the game.”

After the long trip back from Morecambe, the Greens will soon be in action again, on Monday, at Home Park against Lincoln City. Six points from those fixtures would give an even healthier picture of the league table coming out of the Easter weekend than it looks going in.

“Quite often the Easter period can define people's seasons,” said Schumacher.

“If you are looking to chase, or you are in and around the play-off picture and you can get six points, then it gives you a right good chance. If you're down at the bottom and you can get a few points over the Easter weekend, then again it can springboard you. We're in the top two and we need to make sure that we're ready to compete and fight to get as many points as we can.

“We know the other teams behind us are going to have an eye on the same thing. We have to make sure that we just deal with the next game that's in front of us, which is Morecambe, which is never an easy game. I don't care where they are in the league, it's never an easy game.”