Tomorrow night sees the second of two back-to-back home games against teams that were promoted alongside us from League 2 last season, as Plymouth Argyle make the trip north. The visitors’ squad contains a few familiar faces as Ryan Lowe and Steven Schumacher are the management duo while Alex Academy Alumni George Cooper and Byron Moore are joined by former loanee Conor Grant in the playing staff.
This season:
They sit in 16th place in the league after wins against Blackpool, Burton Albion, Northampton Town, Doncaster Rovers and Swindon Town, they have drawn against AFC Wimbledon, Shrewsbury Town, Wigan Athletic and Portsmouth while they have lost against Hull City, Lincoln City as well as in each of their last 5 games against Fleetwood Town, Peterborough United, Rochdale, Ipswich Town and Bristol Rovers.
In the cups, they have knocked out Charlton Athletic and Lincoln to set up a 3rd Round clash in the FA Cup against Huddersfield Town while they lost 3-2 to Leyton Orient in the 2nd Round of the Carabao Cup after beating Queens Park Rangers by the same score in Round 1. In the EFL Trophy, they finished 3rd in their group after back-to-back defeats against Norwich City’s Under-21s and Cheltenham Town before beating Newport County in the final group game.
Transfers:
Plymouth have made 12 signings over the summer, 7 permanently, 3 season-long loans and 2 loans until January. Goalkeepers Luke McCormick and Jack Ruddy arrived from Swindon Town and Leganes respectively with loan defenders Kelland Watts (EOS) and Jerome Opoku (Jan) also arriving. Midfielders Panutche Camara, Lewis Macleod, Ben Reeves and Tyrese Fornah (EOS loan from Nottingham Forest) while forwards Frank Nouble, the permanent signing of Cooper and loanees Ryan Hardie (EOS) and Timmy Abraham (Jan) complete the signings.
They have let 12 players leave the club permanently, including former Alex players Joel Grant and Antoni Sarcevic, while 5 players have left the club on loan deals this season.
Head-to-Head:
Alex Wins: 6
Argyle Wins: 11
Draws: 4
Biggest Alex Win: 3-0 at Gresty Road in December 2004
Biggest Town Win: 3-0 at Home Park in February 2005
Last Meeting:
Plymouth Argyle 2-1 Crewe Alexandra, 15th February 2020
Harry Pickering gave the Alex the lead 7 minutes after the break with Luke Jephcott equalising 5 minutes later. Former Alex midfielder Antoni Sarcevic scored the winner in the 71st minute from the penalty spot.
Alex: Jaaskelainen; Ng, Nottingham, Offord, Pickering; Jones, Wintle, Green (Anene 82); Walker (Dale 72), Porter, Kirk (Ainley 79)
Argyle: Palmer; Wootton, Canavan, McFadzean (Bakinson 75); Edwards, Sarcevic, Josh Grant, Mayor, G. Cooper (Hardie 77); Moore, Jephcott (Joel Grant 86)
Played for Both:
The following players have been contracted to both teams:
Goalkeepers: David Button, Geoff Crudgington, Bruce Grobbelaar, Phil Kite, Danny Milosevic, Neil Ramsbottom
Defenders: Paul Bignot, Anthony Charles, Winston Foster, David Gray, Brian McAllister, Kelvin Mellor, Aaron Taylor-Sinclair
Midfielders: George Cooper, David Fox, Conor Grant, Jamie Lowry, Ray Lugg, Lee Molyneux, Jamie Ness, Antoni Sarcevic, Barry Silkman, Nigel Walker, Simon Walton
Forwards: Simon Church, Stewart Evans, Len Featherby, Joel Grant, Steve Guinan, Tom Hitchcock, Frank Lord, Byron Moore, Hughie Reed, Darran Rowbotham, Billy Toms
Officials:
The officials for this game have been announced here with Scott Oldham the referee, Peter Gooch and Mark Cunliffe are his assistants with Bradley Hall the fourth official. Here are the Crewe games that have been refereed by Busby in the last 5 years:
- Crewe Alexandra 2-1 Rotherham United (4th November 2017, FA Cup) – Walker, Ainley
- Morecambe 0-1 Crewe Alexandra (21st November 2017) – Ng
- Northampton Town 2-0 Crewe Alexandra (3rd November 2018)
- Crewe Alexandra 1-0 Cheltenham Town (18th January 2020) – Ng
- Crewe Alexandra 1-2 Lincoln City (5th September 2020, Carabao Cup) – Sass-Davies
