Scarr gets goosebumps at a packed Home Park
DEFENDER Dan Scarr has admitted he gets goosebumps every time he walks out to play for Plymouth Argyle at a packed Home Park.
The 27-year-old believes the sizeable and noisy support of the Green Army has enabled the promotionchasing Pilgrims to turn the Theatre of Greens into a fortress.
Argyle still have two more home matches to play this season and they are shaping up to be very important ones as they are against Sunderland and MK Dons, both sides who are also chasing a place in the Championship next term.
Scarr played for the first time in two months when he started the 1-0 home victory over Oxford United on Saturday, which was watched by a crowd of almost 16,000.
He made his comeback from a torn hamstring after James Bolton was ruled out by the ankle injury which he had suffered in the previous match, the 1-0 defeat at Ipswich Town, which had ended a run of six consecutive wins.
Scarr said: “You walk out and you get goosebumps every time. That feeling never goes. If there is anything that’s going to get you up for a game it’s that.
“The fans here are second to none. I spoke to one of Oxford lads who I used to be with at Birmingham and he said ‘You have got some good fans here’.
“I think for some teams that come here it might shudder them a little bit and make them a bit jittery.”
There is understandably a lot of excitement among the Green Army about Argyle’s promotion push but the players are staying level-headed about it.
Scarr said: “We never get too high, never get too low. It was easy to drop your head after not playing that well and losing to Ipswich but we bounced back (against Oxford) with a win and a clean sheet.
“We do stay level-headed. You just look forward to each game as it comes, don’t look too far ahead, don’t really look behind you. Just keep ticking over.”
He added: “We try and put ourselves in a position where it’s in our hands and at the moment I think we are doing that.
“We just need to keep working hard and give it a real good go. As many fans as we keep getting in, it all helps because they do make this place a fortress and it gees us up so much when we play in front of them.
“I think that’s why our home record is good because you are buzzing to go and play at home, and get these teams down here and see what they are made of.”
Argyle have won 14 and drawn three of their 21 home league games this season and have scored 32 goals while conceding only 14.
On his return to action against Oxford, Scarr said: “I felt alright out there but I think because the shape was good I didn’t really have to do a lot. We didn’t get stretched too much.
“There wasn’t any last ditch defending from me and some of the other lads. It was a good one to come into.”
Scarr had been an ever present for Argyle in the league before he suffered his hamstring injury in the closing seconds of the 4-1 win away to Crewe Alexandra on February 8 and was determined to stay positive during his enforced break.
With Scarr out, Bolton, who signed from Portsmouth in the summer, stepped into the side and produced some fine performances before he too was injured.
Scarr said: “He’s a great defender. He’s a good leader, obviously that’s why they signed him. He has been unfortunate because we had that good run and he had an injury.
“We all know he’s a good player. To be up there near the top you need to have a good squad.”