Image source, Rex Features

Making Home Park a fortress was always the plan for Plymouth following their promotion to the second tier.

Despite the upheaval in the Pilgrims dugout, which has seen four different managers at the helm of Argyle since the summer of 2023, they have at least succeeded in that goal thus far.

Since the start of last season, 79% of their Championship wins (11 of 14) have come at home – the highest percentage of any of the 17 teams who are in the division for the second straight season.

Argyle have lost just once in their past six games at Home Park and the Hatters look sure have a challenge on their hands this evening.

A quick change of ends before kick-off is met by a few boos from the home fans.

But now the 400th Friday night match at Prenton Park is underway with Tranmere in their traditional all-white home kit and Salford in their black away strip.

Will these two sides serve up a match fitting of the occasion? Let’s find out…

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After a bit of a hard landing upon relegation from the Premier League, Rob Edwards seems to have steadied the Luton ship with successive wins against Millwall and Sheffield Wednesday.

The Hatters are looking for three league wins in a row for the first time since March 2023 and are unbeaten in their past four visits to Home Park where three wins and a draw have seen them keep a clean sheet on each occasion.

It has all been very binary on the road so far this season for Luton - W1 D1 L1 F1 A1 - but they have picked-up more points away than at Kenilworth Road, where they lost their first two games.

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And onto the Championship... Wayne Rooney may have picked up just a single win from his six matches in charge of Plymouth, but the Pilgrims boss can see the green chutes of his system forming at Home Park.

"I think we're starting to see an identity to the team and it's a change from where the team were last season," Rooney told BBC Radio Devon.

"We want to try and take the ball, but we also want to be quite effective with it as well. We don't want to just pass the ball for the sake of it."

Rooney says analysing his side's performances in the draw at QPR, the 1-0 defeats against Stoke and West Brom and the 3-2 win over Sunderland gives cause for optimism.

"I looked at the data from the last four games and we were projected fourth in the league," he said.

"I've spoken to the forward players about living in the moment when we're getting in dangerous areas and coming alive to try and score goals so that’s the one thing we’ve got to improve on."

If there's one thing a man with 313 senior goals and 53 for England knows about, it's how to find the back of the net.

Image source, BBC Sport

Nigel Adkins makes two changes to the Tranmere Rovers side that suffered a 3-0 defeat at Colchester United last weekend.

Captain Tom Davies, who missed Saturday's game, returns at the heart of the defence in place of Zak Bradshaw and Lee O'Connor replaces Cameron Norman at right-back.

Bradshaw and Norman both drop to the bench.

Image source, BBC Sport

Salford City head coach Karl Robinson has made four changes following the 2-0 loss at home to Walsall.

Ryan Watson and Haji Mnoga make their first starts of the season, while Conor McAleny and Kelly N’Mai are also brought into the side.

Liam Shephard, Daniel Chesters and Hakeeb Adelakun all started last weekend but aren’t in the squad tonight. Ben Woodburn drops to the bench.

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John Aldridge will have played in and overseen many a game under the lights on a Friday night at Prenton Park.

Fast forward to 27 September 2024 and it's the 400th time such an occasion has taken place.

The stadium has stood on this very spot for 112 years, seen the highs, the lows, a 1938 Division Three title win and that famous Aldridge v Gerard Houllier FA Cup quarter-final with Liverpool in 2001.

Tonight's matchday programme is commemorating the momentous milestone with a front cover dedicated to the 400th Friday night game.

Rovers first started playing on Friday nights in the 1960s to avoid clashing with Liverpool and Everton matches until it became less common by the '90s. But we're back at it again this evening.

For what it's worth, Tranmere have won 211 of the previous 399, drawing 91 and losing 97. So by those maths, there's a 53% chance the home side come out on top and it's only 24% likely Salford come away with all three points...

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Let's start in League Two. Don’t be fooled into thinking this fixture is your typical mid-table clash. Both of these sides have got something to prove tonight - and this season in general.

Not to mention that the last two games between Tranmere and Salford have served up successive goal-fests (13 to be precise).

Tranmere ran out comfortable 5-1 winners when they last met on Boxing Day at the Peninsula Stadium, while Salford edged a seven-goal thriller 4-3 in this exact fixture in August 2023.

The hosts boast an impressive record against Salford, winning seven of their last eight clashes, although they have suffered back-to-back 3-0 defeats in League Two and have only scored three goals so far.

A win for either side would be vital, even at this early stage, and would lift them to within touching distance of the play-off spots, admittedly with Saturday's fixtures to come. It's all perfectly poised.

Image source, Rex Features

Welcome to your weekend!

There were times last season where it looked like there might be two divisions between Plymouth and Luton tonight, but here we are, in the end Argyle stayed-up, the Hatters came down, and it's all Championship eyes on Home Park tonight.

Such is the league-hopping nature of these grand old clubs that this is just their ninth league meeting over the past 17 years, and will neatly complete the set, those nine have all come across the three EFL divisions.

Wayne Rooney and Rob Edwards are two of the most recognisable faces among all Championship managers, though perhaps for slightly different reasons, but tonight they face off seeking to haul their sides towards the top-half of the table.

We also have a League Two encounter between Tranmere Rovers and Salford City in store to ensure the EFL ball gets well and truly rolling this evening.

There's no time to waste, let's get going, shall we...