Plymouth Herald
Pilgrims take fight for survival onto the road
ARGYLE'S continuing fight for Championship survival will see them play four of their next five matches away from Home Park.
The clash against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road this evening will be followed by a trip to Coventry City on Saturday.
The Pilgrims will then host Bristol City next Tuesday, before playing two more away games, at Sc**thorpe United on March 20 and Ipswich Town three days later.
It is a crucial stage of the season for relegation-threatened Argyle, who are desperate for wins to try to claw their way out of the bottom three.
Head coach Paul Mariner believes his players are capable of picking up a decent haul of points from the four away games over the next fortnight.
And he is convinced all the travelling involved will not pose problems for the Argyle squad.
Mariner said: "I take my hat off to the board. They allow us to fly to most venues, which is easier on the players.
"We are also cautious on the amount of legwork we give the players.
"But they have been around the block before and they know how to take care of themselves and what it's going to take to get in the best possible condition for the games."
He added: "We have obviously got to keep an eye on it, but we also respect the fact the players are very good professionals."
QPR will be playing for the second time tonight since the appointment of former Argyle boss Neil Warnock as their new manager.
He started his reign at Rangers with a 3-1 victory over promotion-chasing West Bromwich Albion at Loftus Road on Saturday.
QPR took a 2-0 lead inside 18 minutes, with goals from on-loan Arsenal striker Jay Simpson (see One to Watch) and right-back Matt Connolly.
Chris Brunt replied for West Brom before half-time, but former Argyle midfielder Akos Buzsaky made it 3-1 in the 67th minute.
Buzsaky, on as a substitute for Hogan Ephraim, curled a free-kick into the penalty area which deceived everyone, including West Brom goalkeeper Scott Carson, and the ball bounced into the net off a post.
The win moved QPR up four places to 16th in the Championship, three points clear of the relegation zone.
Rangers had five loan signings in their team against West Brom, including 'keeper Carl Ikeme and left-back Matt Hill from Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The others were Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Adel Taarabt, Ipswich Town forward Tamas Priskin and Simpson.
Striker Marcus Bent has also been borrowed from Birmingham City.
But he was not involved against West Brom because only five loan players can be included in a match-day squad.
Warnock was appointed by QPR last week, on a three-and-a-half-year contract, after they agreed a compensation settlement with his former club, Crystal Palace.
The 61-year-old quit Palace because they are in administration and their future is far from certain.
Warnock is Rangers' fifth manager of the season, and the eighth permanent boss since the departure of Ian Holloway in February 2006.
Jim Magilton was appointed as the successor to Paulo Sousa last summer, but was sacked in December.
Centre of excellence bosses Steve Gallen and Marc Bircham had one match as caretaker bosses, before Paul Hart took over.
He quit Rangers after only five matches and Mick Harford took temporary charge for seven games, with QPR losing six times, before Warnock moved across London.
Warnock was last in opposition against Argyle in January, when Palace won 1-0 at Home Park.
Now he has been charged with the task of leading Rangers out of relegation trouble.
Mariner said: "I don't think Neil is going to change the way he plays the game, but obviously the personnel are different.
"They rose to the challenge on Saturday (by beating West Brom) and we are under no illusions this is a tough game.
"If we had played them 10 days ago, it might have been a different story.
"But with a new manager coming in, especially Neil with all his experience, he will get them fired up
:
www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/sport/Pilgrims-fight-survival-road/article-1893253-detail/article.html#ixzz0hf7omc4J
