Millwall not Manchester City the focus for Plymouth Argyle boss Miron Muslic
Plymouth Argyle have made headlines around the world after beating Liverpool in the Emirates FA Cup but for head coach Miron Muslic the priority remains trying to retain the club's Championship status.
The next opportunity for the bottom-of-the-table Pilgrims to pick up valuable points in the pursuit of that objective comes against Millwall at Home Park tomorrow night. Just three days after beating the Premier League leaders 1-0, and earning themselves a trip to Manchester City in the fifth round, Muslic knows Argyle need to be fully focused on the task ahead of them.
He said: "It (beating Liverpool) was super emotional for all of, a big day for Argyle, a big day for the fans so we had something to celebrate on Sunday, the whole afternoon, the whole night, but from Monday on we prepared ourselves best possible again to face the next big, big challenge and it's Millwall."
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On the prospect of playing Pep Guardiola's City at the Etihad Stadium, Muslic added: "We put so much sacrifice in against Liverpool, we put so much effort on the pitch and we just rewarded ourselves with again one of the best teams in the world.
"So we are very much looking forward for this, but like Liverpool, when the week is there for Manchester City I will pay attention to this. Right now we have other priorities.
"Our main objective is to stay up, to keep our ranking, to stay in the league and for that we need to continue performing like we showed over the last two-and-a-half, three weeks and collecting points.
"I think we are in a good mood, momentum is something very important in football. The confidence is there, the locker room is full of energy, full of desire to go to fight for each other, to go all in and this will help us for the game tomorrow."
Centre-backs Maksym Talovierov and Nikola Katic have deservedly earned lots of plaudits for their performances in their first two games since signing for Argyle towards the end of the winter transfer window.
The Pilgrims need seem to have a solidity about them which has been missing for most of this season while up front Ryan Hardie, who has three goals, including a couple of penalties, from the last couple of games, has been linking up well with Mustapha Bundu and Callum Wright.
Muslic said: "My main objective first was to stabilise the structure of the team, to give them a good organisation, to give the clarity and simplicity so the guys know exactly their tasks.
"At Sunderland it was already clear they knew what they had to do. The confirmation was West Bromwich afterwards, and I think if you purely look at defensively the lads did a fantastic job with our structure not allowing a lot to Liverpool.
"Maybe the last 10-12 minutes, it's just normal, the pressure is on. They have some long balls and fighting for the second balls, but if you see our defensive structure it was top, and that's exactly what we need to be successful and to collect points.
"I think before that we have an average of 2.5 goals conceded (per game). It's impossible to win. So we are stable defensively and we are getting better and better offensively.
"Again, it's about momentum, it's about confidence. Hardie is in exactly the right spot, the right place right now, supported by a very strong Mustapha Bundu and the working ethic of Cal. I think that's a good trio."
Alex Neil's Millwall are 14th in the Championship table after a run of three successive victories, and they also went to Leeds United in the FA Cup fourth round at the weekend and won 2-0. Muslic said: "They have been very good over the last couple of weeks. They are very physical, very direct. They know exactly what they can do and they know exactly what they can't do.
"That's why they are successful. They are relying on being vertical, putting balls inside the box, pushing up, being strong in both boxes. It's a big, big challenge but I also think we have the weapons to attack them."
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