Schumacher's Peterborough Preview

After the euphoria of Tuesday night’s Papa Johns Trophy semi-final victory, Argyle are back to Sky Bet League One action against Peterborough United on Saturday.

For manager Steven Schumacher, the Trophy final against Bolton Wanderers just over five weeks away, has to be put temporarily on the back burner so that his side can focus on divisional promotion.

“Tuesday night was brilliant; we all enjoyed it,” he told Argyle TV. “It was a brilliant night for the club and we’ll look forward to Wembley now in April - but there's a lot of games to play in the meantime. We’ve got at least got six fixtures to play in the run up to that game.

“It’s important that we got the lads back in today and had a conversation about not letting anything distract us. We've got tickets and arrangements to try and sort out in the next few days, but it's business as usual now, back to the league on Saturday.

“It feels like games get more important as the weeks go by, and that will probably continue to be the case because of what's at stake.

“The longer we can stay in and around the top of the division, where we are at the moment, more pressure comes on the games, and more excitement comes on the games. We know how important every one is, and that's why our standards have to be right in every single one. We can't afford to drop off and not play with that same level of energy that we have been playing with.

“We know that if we get that energy and that intensity in the way we play, then we usually get decent results.”

Peterborough, managed by Darren Ferguson, in his fourth stint as boss, are ninth in League One, and have been consistently inconsistent. They have drawn just two of their 30 league games, winning four and losing two of their last six.

They also possess the division’s leading goalscorer, Jonson Clarke-Harris, who has 16 league strikes to his name.

“One thing's always pretty much guaranteed when you play them is that they play exciting attacking football,” said Schumacher.

“They've always got goals in the team. They've got Jonson Clarke-Harris who plays up front, who is the leading goalscorer in the division at the moment.

“We try and give our defenders as much information as we can about the players they're playing against and do our best to figure out a way to try to stop them. Saturday will be a challenge because not only have Peterborough got Clarke-Harris, they've got one or two others as well that can hurt you.

“Every time you go and play them they cause you defensive problems. In our last two fixtures, we've had all of the ball, and all of the pressure. We're going to have to do some defending on Saturday for sure.

“We need to make sure we're right on that and then hurt Peterborough, if we can, when we've got the ball.”

Schumacher continues to have a large squad of players to choose from, and this was further bolstered by Brendan Galloway making a playing return during Tuesday’s win. Bali Mumba missed that game, but has recovered for the Posh trip, although Adam Randell’s absence will continue.

“Adam Randell won't be available for Saturday,” said Schumacher. “ He’s still got that issue with his ankle sprain. Bali Mumba will be available; he wasn't available for Tuesday, but he’ll be okay for this game.

“Everybody else is pretty much okay. Tuesday took a lot out of everybody, energy-wise, so we need to make sure everyone trains properly tomorrow and we'll go from there, to try to pick a team that can be stronger at Peterborough, to put in a good performance that gets as a result.

“It was brilliant to see Brendan Galloway back in absolutely on Tuesday night. He played for just over an hour and it’s good to have him back. He’s another player who was in the squad and ready to go. Mickel Miller's getting stronger with every game he plays, and there was a couple who couldn't play on Tuesday night.

“It's a good place to be in and as long as we can keep everyone healthy and keep everybody motivated - which I'm sure they all will be, because they all know what's at stake - I'll have these tough decisions from now to the end of the season.”