Schuey asks his walking wounded for one big push
STEVEN Schumacher has called on his injury-hit Plymouth Argyle squad to give it everything one more time when they try to secure a League One play-off place this weekend.
The outcome of the regular season will come down to the final fixture against MK Dons at an already soldout Home Park on Saturday.
There are currently a number of permutations as to how Argyle can make sure of a top six finish, with play-off rivals Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland both playing games in hand tonight.
As it stands, the Pilgrims know that beating MK Dons would give them a great chance of keeping alive their hopes of promotion to the Championship.
However, should Wycombe Wanderers win at Burton Albion on Saturday by a two-goal margin more than the Pilgrims they would finish above them on goals scored and Schumacher’s side could miss out.
Argyle picked up what might turn out to be a vital point when they drew 1-1 away to league leaders Wigan Athletic on Saturday, to put a hold on the hosts’ promotion celebrations for the time being.
Striker Luke Jephcott put the visitors ahead shortly after the hour mark but Wigan equalised through Jack Whatmough in the 74th minute.
Argyle came under late pressure as five minutes of added on time were played by referee Seb Stockbridge and Pilgrims’ substitute Niall Ennis was fortunate not to concede a penalty for a tackle on Callum Lang.
Schumacher said: “There were people clinging on at the end because the lads are putting their bodies on the line. It was like the walking wounded (after the game).
“We are on bare bones. There are a few carrying knocks and niggles and not moving freely, not at 100 per cent.
“I’m so proud of them because they keep putting themselves out there. Forty-five games this season they have given us absolutely everything they have got. We need them to do it one more time.”
Argyle had six players out injured against Wigan, with James Bolton, Panutche Camara, Joe Edwards and Alfie Lewis joining long-term absentees George Cooper and Brendan Galloway. That led to 19-year-old Finley Craske being named among the Pilgrims’ substitutes at the DW Stadium.
Schumacher said: “We haven’t got a big squad, we knew that going into the season. This is what we have got.
“It has been a little bit of an advantage at times because you don’t have too many hard decisions to make.
When you get niggles at this stage of the season, when your big players are missing, then everybody else has just got to raise it.
“They are doing that, they are giving us everything they have got. We just need to recover (from the Wigan game), plan for MK Dons and put in one more big performance to get us into that play-off mix.”
Eleven of Argyle’s squad have played in 37 or more league games this season, led by goalkeeper Mike Cooper, who has been the only ever present, starting all 45 matches.
That highlights the demands that have been put on a relatively small number of players throughout the eight-month campaign.
And there could be another four more matches still to come if the Pilgrims can make it all the way to the League One Play-Off Final at Wembley on Saturday, May 21.