Plymouth Argyle’s surge towards the play-off places is gathering pace, and Owen Dale says the belief inside Home Park is growing by the week.
After spending part of the season looking over their shoulders, Argyle are now looking up, with a run that has dragged them from the foot of League One in late November to within touching distance of the top six.
It’s a mini-victory for me, as I predicted they’d be a decent side after our 3-2 win against them earlier in the season, and again after we beat them 4-1 a couple of weeks ago.
Argyle finding form at the right time
A 2-2 draw away at Reading on Saturday did not make it three wins in eight days, but it did underline just how far Tom Cleverley’s side have come. Argyle fell behind twice at the Select Car Leasing Stadium and twice found a way back into the contest, the sort of resilience that has become a feature of their recent revival.
Dale, on loan from Oxford United, believes that spirit is driving them forwards as the season heads into its final stretch. With nine matches left, Plymouth are now only three points shy of the play-off places, an impressive turnaround for a side that looked in real trouble not so long ago.
“Obviously, there is only one place we want to go,” said Dale. “All focus is on these next two games, off the back of a good result.
“There is a lot of belief, an unbelievable amount of character in the group. Where we have come from earlier on in the season to be where we are now.
“It’s unbelievable character. Everyone is pulling in the right direction and it’s a pleasure to be a part of this team.”
That belief has not appeared out of nowhere. Argyle have put together a sequence of results that has changed the mood around Home Park, and they now head into a huge week with two games on their own patch against fellow play-off hopefuls. Stevenage are next up, followed by Huddersfield Town, which gives them the chance to make a serious statement in the race for the top six.
There is also reason for encouragement in the way they are getting results. Against Reading, they were behind inside three minutes, hit back quickly through Alex Mitchell, then had to respond again after the Royals restored their lead. Caleb Watts’ second-half finish earned them a point, and Dale’s assessment afterwards suggested this is now a team that expects to stay in games rather than collapse under pressure.
“Earlier on in the season we would go behind and be a bit nervy but now we have got enough in the squad,” he said. “There is people who can pop up with goals and make something happen, and as a team we have got a real good understanding of each other and what we are doing.
“We feel like at the moment we can go into any game and come away with three points.”
That is a bold claim, but recent evidence suggests it is not an empty one. Cleverley has clearly found a way to make Argyle competitive again, even with injuries affecting the group, and there is now a genuine sense that they could yet force their way into the reckoning.
From our point of view, it is worth remembering that City’s 4-1 win at Home Park on 7 February remains Argyle’s most recent home defeat. Since then, the Pilgrims have steadied themselves and built momentum, which says plenty about the response from Cleverley and his players.
With the likes of Laurent Tolaj (injured currently) and Bim Pepple, they have a goal threat, but I think they’re a creative side, who could well still crash the top six. A team in form often comes from outside to steal the final place, and deep down, I feel that might be the Pilgrims.
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