The Cod Army make their longest journey of the season – a 650 mile return trip - as they head to Devon to take on Plymouth Argyle at Home Park on Saturday.
Fleetwood will be looking to build on a positive result following Tuesday’s 2-1 win over Morecambe in the Checkatrade Trophy. Wes Burns’ long distance strike and an own goal won the contest for Town and put them on the cusp of the knockout stages.
Tough start for Argyle
The Pilgrims have found it tough in Sky Bet League One since gaining promotion from the fourth tier last season, and sit bottom of the table after 11 games.
They do however go into Saturday’s match on the back of a win against local rivals Exeter City on Tuesday. The Checkatrade Trophy tie ended 2-2 but Plymouth won the extra point with victory on penalties.
Argyle have lost seven of their last nine matches, but did record an impressive 2-0 win over Charlton Athletic in August when Jake Jervis scored twice.
We’ve met before
Plymouth and Fleetwood have met four times in the past, all in League Two, and both sides have won two matches apiece.
The last meeting was a comprehensive 4-0 win for the Green Army at Highbury in February 2014. The previous fixture at Home Park saw an away victory as a David Ball double secured a 2-0 win for Town.
The first two meetings saw a 3-0 Fleetwood win at Highbury and a 2-1 Plymouth victory in Devon.
Ones to watch
Winger Jake Jervis has been a shining light in Argyle’s difficult start and as well that brace against Charlton, has also featured in all but two of their games so far.
A product of the Wolverhampton Wanderers youth system, Jervis signed his first professional contract with Birmingham City. Jervis had been loaned out to plenty of Football League clubs including Preston, Carlisle and Portsmouth, before signing for Turkish side Elazigspor in 2013. After a spell at Ross County, Plymouth signed him in 2015 where he has since made almost 100 appearances.
Irish midfielder Graham Carey is another player who is popular amongst the Argyle faithful. The former Celtic player has spent most of his career in Scotland with St Mirren and Ross County, but also spent a loan spell at Huddersfield.
Despite speculation that Carey would leave the club in the summer, he signed a new contract in June to keep him at the club where he has gained cult status. Between 2009 and 2010 he represented Republic of Ireland U21’s six times.
A name all Fleetwood supporters will be familiar with is Antoni Sarcevic. Town’s 2014 Play Off Final hero now plies his trade down in Devon since his move from Shrewsbury Town in January.
The Manchester native played over 100 times for Town between 2013 and 2016, scoring 18 times, and can now add two Argyle goals to his tally which came at the end of the last season. Town certainly know Sarcevic proves a threat on Saturday afternoon.