Cleverley relieved Argyle wait for home game over
Tom Cleverley has guided Plymouth Argyle to just two home wins in League One this season - the last coming on 6 September
- Published
Tom Cleverley says he is relieved that Plymouth Argyle are finally returning to Home Park after six weeks away.
The Pilgrims have not played a home game since the 2-1 loss to AFC Wimbledon on 18 October.
Northampton Town visit Argyle on Saturday with Plymouth a point off safety in 23rd place.
They lost five successive games on the road in all competitions before their 1-0 win at Port Vale last week, which pulled them off the bottom of League One.
"It's a bit of a relief to be honest, every team always performs better at home," head coach Cleverley told BBC Radio Devon.
"We haven't made the most of our home advantage this year, or certainly as much as we have in previous years, but that's something we want to address.
"You always feel like you've got more presence in the game, you've got more front foot about you when you're here.
"To not be here for six weeks, we've missed it, and we have to make it feel like we have missed it and we've really craved to be back here in that first 10 minutes."
It will be a wait of 42 days between AFC Wimbledon's win at Home Park and the visit of Northampton Town on Saturday
Argyle have won just two home games in the league this season, but go into a spell which sees them play at Home Park in six of their next nine League One matches up to 1 January.
Cleverley knows the upcoming period before the transfer window is critical for how his side will fare come the rest of the season.
"I said that to the players before the Port Vale game that the next 10 games really are important for us," he added.
"We've started that run well, now we have nine more of those to take us through to the start of January.
"We have a points target that I'll keep internal, but it'll certainly get us back up to the middle of the table where we want to be.
"It's an important period of games starting with Northampton and our first game at Home Park for a long time."
He added: "Successful teams are all built on home records and defensive records, but we've been quite far off it in both aspects.
"Tempo and intensity always gets your home crowd with you, and since I gave the players four days off in-between Huddersfield and Port Vale I've seen a real freshness to the players last week and this week in training."