Stoke City (A) | Whittaker's Preview
Two days after Argyle’s televised 1-0 win against Leicester City last Friday, Morgan Whittaker was shining on another stage.
The Pilgrims' leading goalscorer was in London to be formally named in the Sky Bet Championship Team of the Season, recognising his form for the club, for whom he has scored 20 times this season, 19 of them in the league.
Whittaker is very keen to get to 20 league goals. Should he do so, he would be the first Argyle player to achieve the feat since Steve Castle in 1993/94 – and he wants to use the inclusion in the league’s best 11 as impetus to end the season positively.
“I don't think it's sunk in really,” said Morgan. “After being on the stage, I just sat back and thought about the season I've had. I think in the last few games I've been stressing myself out about not scoring, and not performing how I want to be, but I think I need to just take a step back and realise the achievement of getting that award, the goals I’ve scored and that I just need to take a minute to be proud of myself.
“My partner knows, I'm still stressing myself about 20 league goals. The way I am, I'm never going to stop wanting to do more. It's just how I am.
“Now I'm so close to 20 league goals, I'll be happy with myself, I think.
“The main focus is getting the win, and that's what we have been doing recently. That's more of a personal goal for me. The team's been doing really well, which is the main thing.”
Momentum is with the Pilgrims. Argyle have picked up seven points from their last three games, including a home victory against Leicester last time out.
The Foxes had previously lost to Millwall, another team near the foot of the division, which Whittaker says gave Argyle some confidence going into that game. Now, he is warning against any complacency heading into a meeting against Stoke City, managed by Steven Schumacher, the man responsible for bringing Whittaker to Home Park.
“I owe a lot to Steven,” said Morgan. “Without his faith in me last season, bringing me in on loan and back this season, I wouldn't be able to get in the Team of the Season, doing what I'm doing.
“I do owe a lot to him, but the focus is on us. We know that after the result we got against Leicester, that we can go and beat Stoke - it would be a massive three points.
“We can't take it for granted. We just need to focus on ourselves and just take that performance into Saturday.
“Before the game, we saw Millwall beat them and teams have beaten them before, so the message was that we just have to believe that we can beat them. To actually do it is another thing, with the quality they've got, but it just shows the Championship is crazy.
“To see Home Park like that again after how tough it's been for the fans, was amazing.
“The fans have been amazing all season. The last few months have been very up and down, but they've stuck with us. We've got to give a performance to be proud of.”
