Argyle facing important period of games admits Tom Cleverley

TOM Cleverley wants to see tempo and intensity from Plymouth Argyle when they play their first game at Home Park in six weeks against Northampton Town today.

- By CHRIS ERRINGTON

Cleverley believes the onus is on the Pilgrims' players to perform to a level where they are 'the catalyst for the atmosphere' inside the stadium.

After ending a run of six successive away games in all competitions with a vital 1-0 victory at Port Vale last Saturday, six of Argyle’s next nine League One fixtures are to be played at the Theatre of Greens.

That sequence starts against Kevin Nolan’s Northampton, who are currently in 17th position with 20 points from 16 games and most recently lost 3-1 at home to Cardiff City last weekend.

The 23rd-placed Pilgrims have not had a match at Home Park since AFC Wimbledon came from behind to beat them 2-1 in the league on October 18 and Cleverley is looking forward to getting back to playing there.

The head coach said: "It's a bit of a relief to be honest. Every team always performs better at home. We haven't made the most of our home advantage this year, or certainly not as much as we have in previous years, but that is something we want to address.

"You always feel like you have got more presence in the game, you have got more front foot about you when you are here, and to not be here for six weeks we have missed it.

"We have to make that feel like we have missed it and we have really craved to be back here in that first 10 minutes tomorrow and I will prepare the team to do so."