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Burton Albion have certainly experienced a tough start to the League One campaign, and manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink departed in September with the club sat at the foot of the division having picked up just a single point from their opening seven matches.
Dino Maamria then stepped up to lead the Brewers, and they enjoyed an initial improvement, collecting 11 points from his first eight league games at the helm, including three victories, to move within touching distance of climbing out of the bottom four.
Since their latest triumph over Cheltenham Town in October, the Brewers have been unable to add another notch to their wins column in the league in three attempts, though, firstly suffering defeats at the hands of Bolton Wanderers and Sheffield Wednesday before bouncing back with a 2-0 beating of Needham Market in the FA Cup first round.
Maamria’s side then returned to league action with a home contest against Charlton Athletic last weekend, and in an eventful clash, they came back from two goals down to lead 3-2 through Adedeji Oshilaja, Tom Hamer and Victor Adeboyejo, only for Jesurun Rak-Sakyi to draw their visitors back level in the 75th minute and force a share of the points.
While the Brewers cannot be too disheartened by that performance and result, they do still sit 23rd with just 13 points on the board, and they will be desperate to return to winning ways at the weekend but face a particularly tough test.
In their first full season under the management of Steven Schumacher, Plymouth Argyle have enjoyed an eye-catching start to the campaign, establishing themselves at the top of the division having already put 13 wins and 42 points on the board in 18 outings.
That has largely been down to their formidable record going forward, with no other side in League One matching their tally of 37 goals scored in that time, and they boasted a particularly healthy lead with 11 victories from the opening 14 third-tier matches.
Schumacher’s side then had to settle for a 2-2 draw away at Bristol Rovers but quickly bounced back, firstly beating Shrewsbury Town 2-1 thanks to a Niall Ennis goal and Morgan Whittaker‘s 83rd-minute winner, before making it back-to-back triumphs with a 4-2 beating of Exeter City as Whittaker was again on the scoresheet with Ryan Hardie netting a brace and Bali Mumba also finding the net.
Burton Albion’s line will again be led by Victor Adeboyejo, who has netted eight league goals and 10 in all competitions since his arrival from Barnsley in the summer.
Advanced midfielder Davis Keillor-Dunn sits second in their league scoring charts with five goals thus far, and he will be looking to break back into the starting XI after being an unused substitute last time out.
At the other end of the pitch, Adedeji Oshilaja is a mainstay in defence and should again partner Sam Hughes at the heart of a back four.
Steven Schumacher has rarely made many changes to his Plymouth side throughout the season, and we should again see a 3-4-3 setup with Ryan Hardie leading the line, having netted seven league goals thus far.
He will be flanked by Niall Ennis and Morgan Whittaker, who has also got on the scoresheet seven times in the second tier, while fellow goal threat Finn Azaz is sidelined with an injury.
Macauley Gillesphey is pushing for a start in defence, although the back three of James Wilson, Nigel Lonwijk and Brendan Galloway is unlikely to be altered.
Burton Albion possible starting lineup:
Sinisalo; Hamer, Hughes, Oshilaja, Borthwick-Jackson; Gilligan, Taylor; Smith, Keillor-Dunn, Powell; Adeboyejo
Plymouth Argyle possible starting lineup:
Cooper; Lonwijk, Wilson, Galloway; Edwards, Randell, Houghton, Mumba; Ennis, Hardie, Whittaker
Argyle striker Ryan Hardie accepts that being top of the league means the Pilgrims are a seen as a potential scalp to other teams in Sky Bet League One, but says he and his team-mates are relishing the challenge this poses.
The Greens hit the top spot in the division on 25 September when they beat Ipswich Town and have remained there since. Going into Saturday’s trip to Burton Albion, Argyle have a four-point lead over the Tractor Boys, who are second.
Hardie admits that being on the league’s summit probably raises the game of the each of the opponents they face, but says it not something that daunts the team, particularly with their current goalscoring record.
Argyle have scored in all of the first 18 games of the League One season, something only achieved four times in the club’s history. Hardie leads the Pilgrims’ goalscoring chart, with nine goals in all competitions.
“It’s a credit to us and how we are playing,” he said. “They’ve got to raise their game to get to the standards that we are setting. Everybody plays it as a cup final, playing the top of the league, so for us it is that challenge as well. We’ve got to go and take it to them.
“If you are going to play a team higher than you in the league or a cup game against a team above you always want to prove your worth to show you are not just there, not just in the competition, but you want to be up there as well.
“We set our standards high every week. In training every day we demand a lot from each other. We take that into the game, and it has been showing of late.
“We don’t get too upset if we lose a goal, we always know we can get back into the game. Nobody gets their head down; we know we will get chances in the game and we know that we have players who can create things.
“As a striker, that’s what you want: to be getting chances in games. Then it is up to us to get the ball into the net. Ultimately, we want to start keeping a few more clean sheets. That will help us win more games.”
Argyle head to Burton Albion this Saturday, the third straight away game in as many weekends. They will be backed by a sold-out away end, as the Green Army acted fast to snap up all tickets available for the trip to the Pirelli Stadium.
Burton are 23rd in League One but are unbeaten in four games at home. Hardie, for one, will not be taking them lightly.
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“We need to set up like it is any other game,” he said. “We go there to try to get the three points, as we do every game. We’ll analyse them, we’ll work on a shape and style of play that we think will hurt them. We do lot of in-depth detail and analysis, a lot of video work on what they do.
“The support this season has been unreal. The home games have been incredible, the backing the fans have given us has been unbelievable. Hopefully we can keep given them something to shout about and getting them excited for games. That is up to us. So far, we’ve done that, especially at home, we’ve definitely put on a show. Away games we have done our job.
“When we go one down, the fans still sing and try to drag you through it. They are as important as your team-mates.
“We just need to keep it going. Together – fans, players and backroom staff – we can all do it.”