Stoke City (H) | Pleguezuelo's Preview

After a short break with no football because of the international window, Argyle have come roaring back into Sky Bet Championship with a three-game week.

After a win against Sunderland on Saturday was followed by a loss at Coventry City on Tuesday night, Argyle’s third game in eight days is against Stoke City, at Home Park.

There follows a midweek without a game, but after that there is little respite in the fixtures list through the end of 2023 and beyond.

For central defender Julio Pleguezuelo, who has started the last three games, and the rest of the Argyle squad, it is about managing themselves through this period of fixtures, and with a particular eye on this Saturday against an opponent two points ahead of them in the table, whom Argyle could leapfrog if they defeat.

“We have a very busy schedule ahead, and this is the first week after an international break with a double fixture,” said Julio. “It's just about recovering as fast as we can - there's no time to mourn or to be disappointed about a result. We just learn from it and go again Saturday. There's no time to waste.

“We all know what our main objective in the season is but, at the same time, when you face a team like Stoke, that have similar points and if we win we can go above them, of course, there's an incentive on that game.

“In the last two games we've shown very positive stuff and I think another victory here at Home Park on Saturday will give us a lot of confidence to go into this period with a lot of games.”

Pleguezuelo lined up on the right of a back three against Leeds United, before playing in a central defensive duo with Lewis Gibson, who has just been named as Argyle’s CT1 Player of the Month for November.

Julio spoke of the value of playing with an in-form player like Gibson, as well as the values that a team needs to be able to effectively defend as a unit.

“[It requires] mainly a lot of communication, of course, but it's not just about the two centre-backs. It involves the whole team, because if the whole team is not organised, then the two centre-backs are not going to be organised most of the time.

“It helps that the team, tactically, in the last couple of games, has been really serious about it. We have a nice relationship off the pitch, on the pitch, so we just stick to what we know and what we do.

“At the end of the day, the two centre-backs need to be able to trust each other. When you have someone next to you that has got your back and you know is going to do the job when you need him to, it gives you so much more freedom to take risks at the same time.”