Plymouth Argyle

Three points off the play-offs meets three points off safety. Another Good Friday match-up with a plenty on the line for both Middlesbrough and Plymouth.

Boro know a win will keep them in the top-six debate, for Argyle the battle to save their tumultuous season gets more and more intense.

Here is the tale of the tape ahead of kick-off (15:00 BST).

• Middlesbrough have won two of their past nine league matches against Plymouth Argyle (D5 L2) and are winless in their last three (D2 L1).

• Plymouth Argyle have won on each of their past two league trips to Middlesbrough (1-0 in October 2009 and 2-0 in February 2024); they could win three in a row for the first time.

• Of the 51 teams to play 50+ English Football League games on Good Friday, Middlesbrough have the lowest win percentage (21.6%), winning just 11 of 51 games (D15 L25).

• Plymouth have alternated between victory (3) and defeat (3) in each of their past six league games on Good Friday, losing 2-1 away to Norwich last season.

• Only Sheffield Wednesday (21) have won more points from losing positions in the Championship than Plymouth (18), though just four of those points have come on the road.

Image source, Rex Features

Plymouth Argyle boss Miron Muslic has hailed Nikola Katic's efforts to be fit for the Championship run-in.

The Bosnia defender missed the win over Sheffield United with a hamstring injury, but could feature in East Monday's game against Coventry City at Home Park.

The 28-year-old has been a key figure in the heart of Argyle's defence since joining on loan from FC Zurich in January.

"There's even a little chance, because he absolutely wants and desperately wants, to have him available for Monday, so we will try everything to push for this," Muslic told BBC Radio Devon.

"It's never easy, especially when the season is about to end and the loan players know exactly 'I will return back to my to my home club and I will return back to the roots', so they can lose a little bit of spirit.

"But that's exactly the opposite because Nikola, that's an international football player, he's a national player for Bosnia.

"He can also now use the next two-and-a-half to three weeks to completely recover, to completely heal, but he pushed us almost for this game against Middlesbrough.

"That's why all the data is perfect, all the analysis is perfect, that's why you need to do a character check before you sign players. I knew in January this is the right player for us."

Brent Pilnick
BBC Sport, South West

Image source, Getty Images

Every time Plymouth Argyle appear to be dead and buried, they go and do something to keep Pilgrims fans believing they might just claw their way out of the relegation mire.

Victory over Norwich the other week, and last week's come-from-behind win at home to third-placed Sheffield United shows there is still hope for Argyle, even if their chances are slim with their terrible goal difference compounding their three-point gap to safety.

There is no doubt that Argyle's run-in is challenging – they go to play-off chasing Middlesbrough on Friday and then host sixth-placed Coventry on Easter Monday before a trip to Preston and a home game with title contenders Leeds United ends their season.

But if Argyle have taught us anything in the past few weeks, it's that they seem to have a knack of doing well in the tough games and losing the easier-looking ones – so maybe, just maybe, they can get out of trouble.

Their hopes may well rest on who stays fit - especially defensively. With Matthew Sorinola out for the season, Argyle will hope that Nikola Katic and Maksym Talovierov can return for the run-in.

Captain Joe Edwards' return could be key and his leadership was crucial in Saturday's victory over Sheffield United.

Up front it is vital Ryan Hardie - who has scored nine in his past 11 games - stays fit while Muhamed Tijani scored just his second goal of the season last week after recovering from a hamstring injury that has dogged him all campaign.

Argyle managed to stay up on the last day of last season - you feel that if they do survive this time around, it may well be on the final day.

Image source, Getty Images

Plymouth Argyle manager Miron Muslic says captain Joe Edwards will start Good Friday's crucial Championship trip to Middlesbrough.

Edwards came on as a half-time substitute against high-flying Sheffield United on Saturday and helped the Pilgrims overturn a 1-0 deficit to get a crucial 2-1 win.

The 34-year-old has featured four times from the bench since returning from a serious hamstring injury he sustained in October.

But Muslic says the time is right for Edwards, who helped coach the side between Wayne Rooney's departure and Muslic's appointment, to bring him back.

"I want to start him and I will start him, that's not a secret, that's almost obvious after the last performance," Muslic told BBC Radio Devon.

"We can also take advantage of not only his performance, out of his leadership and experience.

"Little moments in set-pieces in the opponent's box - his first action he just went to [Michael] Cooper [Sheffield United goalkeeper] and gave him a little shoulder - these are little things, but they have a massive impact.

"He can play a crucial part for us and then let's see how we progress the game.

"The way I understand Joe's profile, the way I see Joe, he's smart enough to manage himself until a certain point, and if he can't any more then no problem at all, other players will step in to do the task."

Image source, Rex Features

Plymouth boss Miron Muslic was full of praise for captain Joe Edwards after Argyle's dramatic comeback victory over promotion-chasing Sheffield United.

Edwards came on as a half-time substitute with the Pilgrims trailing and Muslic said his captain played a key role in the much-needed win at Home Park that, he believes, makes their difficult-looking escape from relegation "possible".

"I knew if we had to do something extraordinary Joe (Edwards) can help us," Muslic told BBC Radio Devon.

"Joe's first action without touching the ball was to lift the crowd and that was massive. Joe did it today, like a skipper. Magnificent.

"I think Joe himself would have been frustrated at not starting but I think today's decision was the right one. And he will start the next game.

"After the Swansea defeat [a 3-0 loss] I predicted the unpredictability of Argyle. It drives me crazy and costs me lots of lost sleep at night.

"The almost impossible is possible again."

Plymouth remain bottom of the Championship, effectively four points adrift of safety given their significantly worse goal difference to Derby County in the last safe spot.

Plymouth Argyle welcome Sheffield United for a crucial game at both ends of the Championship table on Saturday lunchtime (12:30 BST).

The Pilgrims are five points from safety at the bottom, though seven of their eight victories this season have come at Home Park.

The Blades have lost two on the bounce for the first time since October and are two points behind the automatic promotion places.

• Plymouth have lost seven of their past eight meetings with Sheffield United in all competitions (D1) since a 1-0 Championship win in November 2007. The Pilgrims have lost each of their last five matches against the Blades in a row.

• This will be Sheffield United's first away league game at Plymouth since a 1-0 win in December 2009; only in February 1950 have they ever won successive league visits against them.

• Plymouth have won three of their past six home league games (D1 L2), just one fewer than their first 14 of the season beforehand (W4 D6 L4).

• Sheffield United have lost both of their past two league games, but haven't lost three in a row outside of the Premier League since December 2017.

• Against Millwall last time out, Sheffield United had 25 shots, their most in a single league match since November 2022 against Burnley (28), and their most on Opta's records (from 2013-14) in a league game in which the Blades failed to score.

Image source, Rex Features

Plymouth Argyle head coach Miron Muslic says his players have proved they can handle the pressure of "must-win" games.

Muslic believes Argyle's trip to Swansea on Wednesday also falls into that category with his side bottom of the Championship and four points from safety.

But he has been encouraged by recent results which have included a first away league win of the season at Portsmouth, a goalless draw at Watford and Saturday's 2-1 home victory against Norwich City.

Muslic told BBC Radio Devon: "Right now we are in a good way. We believe. The last two performances, especially away against Watford and Portsmouth, should give us the confidence that we are capable of performing away and more than capable of grabbing points.

"We need to take this game like the Norwich game, like an all-in game, as the next must-win, but we proved we can deal with that kind of pressure.

"We have that belief that we can do it also away and Wednesday night is the next opportunity."

Swansea City welcome the Championship's bottom side Plymouth Argyle to south Wales on Wednesday night (19:45 BST).

After their win against Derby on Saturday the Swans are now seven points clear of the drop zone, but a run of poor results could make the end to their season a little uncomfortable.

Plymouth, meanwhile, seemed down and out until they beat Norwich 2-1 over the weekend and put themselves within five points of safety; meaning victory over Swansea is vital.

• Swansea have won five of their previous seven league games against Plymouth (D1 L1), winning this season's reverse meeting 2-1 in December.

• After their 1-0 win in this exact fixture last season, Plymouth could win back-to-back away league games against Swansea for only the second time, previously doing so in 1984-85/1985-86.

• Swansea have lost four of their past five midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) league games (D1), scoring just one goal in this time, since a 3-0 victory over QPR in December.

• Plymouth have picked up four points in their previous two away league games (W1 D1), just one fewer than their first 18 outings of the season beforehand (5 – W0 D5 L13).

• Plymouth have won two of their past three league games played on a Wednesday (D1), as many as their previous 12 on this day of the week beforehand (W2 D5 L4).

Image source, Rex Features

Plymouth Argyle head coach Miron Muslic says his side showed they still have belief that they can stay up after their 2-1 win over Norwich City.

Ryan Hardie's two first-half goals were enough to ensure just an eighth win of the season for the Pilgrims.

Argyle remain bottom of the Championship, but are now just four points from safety with six games to play.

"We knew the importance of the game and we also knew our situation," Muslic told BBC Radio Devon.

"We knew we just had to win, and I mentioned in my last speech in the locker room it's about the sacrifice and to give it all, and we have a chance.

"It was hard for us to find our way into the game in the first 10 or 15 minutes.

"But then you see what momentum means in football - that first goal that was a door-opener for us, that was a big relief, a massive confidence boost inside our team and the Green Army just jumped on this train and gave us this second wave of support.

"The first half, after the first goal, was brilliant, maybe one of the best performances in the last couple of weeks."

Plymouth's battle for Championship survival continues with the visit of play-off chasing Norwich to Home Park on Saturday (15:00 BST).

Basement-boys Argyle are effectively eight points from safety, such is their inferior goal difference, with seven games remaining after Derby's win over Preston on Wednesday night.

The Canaries' last-gasp win over West Brom on Saturday took them back into the top-10 and within five points of the play-off spots.

• Plymouth Argyle have lost five of their past six league games against Norwich, winning the other 6-2 at Home Park last season.

• Norwich won 6-1 earlier this campaign against Plymouth at Carrow Road. The last time the Canaries scored 10 league goals against an opponent in a season was against Millwall in 2014-15 (10).

• Across their past 13 home games in all competitions, Plymouth's only clean sheet came against current Premier League leaders Liverpool in a 1-0 FA Cup win in February.

• Of Norwich's last 36 Championship goals, only six have them been scored away from home. Just 26% of their goals have been scored on the road (16/61) with only Plymouth scoring a lower percentage away (8/40, 20%).

• Josh Sargent has scored nine goals in his past 11 Championship appearances for Norwich and overall he's scored 42 in 93 games at this level – the only Canaries player with more since 2004-05 is Teemu Pukki (65).