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“They won’t let levels drop.”
Plymouth Argyle head coach Tom Cleverley has said that the experienced players who have returned to the side are driving up standards.
It is four wins in six for the Greens who have seen an uptick in form, in a run which has seen them concede only four goals in that run where they have kept four clean sheets – and only conceded from the penalty spot against Bradford City.
While Argyle are still in the relegation zone in League One, it is only on goal difference as they have closed the gap to those above them. And victory at Doncaster Rovers on Saturday will see them climb out of the bottom four ahead of Christmas.
Argyle’s squad has been bolstered by the return of several key players from injury absences. Julio Pleguezuelo had missed the whole of the season before his return from his knee injury which saw him miss the first three months of the season and since then, the Pilgrims have been much more tighter defensively, conceding two goals in four games.
Joe Ralls since his arrival on a free transfer has also added experience to the side with the 32-year-old adding ‘real class’ to the midfield, capped off with the win at Home Park on Saturday.
Skipper Joe Edwards is also back in the team after his stop-start season with two periods out with injury as well as a three-match ban for a red card, and the boss thinks the balance between youthful exuberance and the experience of older and wiser heads is paying off.
Head Coach Tom Cleverley following the win over Rotherham United at the weekend said: “We’ve got the fundamentals of a squad that can put a run of results together. We know we want to improve and be a bit more attractive and entertaining, but right now it’s substance over style.
“Having experienced players back in the team helps drive standards. Ralls has been fantastic since coming in, and the mainstays like Joe [Edwards], Brendan Galloway and Pato (Jamie Paterson) give us a really good balance. They won’t let levels drop.
“We’ve got a week without a game now before the chaos of Christmas — the calm before the storm. It’s nice to go into that off the back of a win.”
Argyle are away to Doncaster on Saturday, before a first Boxing Day home game since 2016 when Reading visit. The Greens then host Wycombe on December 29, before a New Year’s Day trip to Stevenage.
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