Miron Muslic makes honest Plymouth Argyle claim with Man City and Hull City in mind | OneFootball

The Pilgrims boss was keen to stress the importance of balancing minutes for the crucial upcoming clash with Hull.

Plymouth Argyle boss Miron Muslic has admitted that he and his staff will have more than half an eye on their upcoming Championship clash with Hull City, despite facing a “one in a lifetime experience” against Manchester City on Saturday.

After defeating Premier League leaders Liverpool in the Fourth Round of the FA Cup, the Pilgrims will be hoping history can repeat itself when they make the trip to the Etihad Stadium this weekend.

Muslic’s men will be backed by a tremendous away support of 7800 in Manchester, with the entire club buoyed by their recent improvement on the pitch.

Plymouth had looked dead and buried when the Austrian took over, but now find themselves just three points from safety, with their next league game away to Hull, the side directly above them, on Tuesday night.

Muslic has admitted he will have more than half an eye on the Hull game

Plymouth produced the shock of the round, and arguably the entire competition so far, when they downed the top-flight leaders at the start of February.

While they will be hoping lightning can strike twice this week, Muslic was understandably keen to ensure that focus doesn’t switch too much from their main priority – their Championship survival fight.

A run of just one defeat in their last six league games has given the second-tier strugglers renewed hope of survival, but with the Hull game approaching in a matter of days, they still have one of their most important assignments ahead of them.

While the Manchester City test is an exciting opportunity for the whole club, it was no surprise to see Muslic focus on their league ambitions. When asked if he would have ‘half an eye’ on the Hull game in relation to his team selection for the cup clash, the former Cercle Brugge boss replied: "Not only half an eye, I have both eyes."

He continued, via the Plymouth Herald: "We will try to manage and to find a right balance between having this beautiful adventure in front of us, like Liverpool and now City, to be super competitive just three nights later against Hull.

"I think we as staff found a good way to manage this and to rebalance the team after Liverpool to face Millwall, and I think we will need the same approach again because, in terms of the importance of the games, Hull is way more important for us."

Despite prioritising the Hull game, Muslic was keen to stress that the squad are still looking forward to testing themselves against some of the best players in the world, saying: "This is just the crème de la crème of English football. The highest mountain to climb, but it’s just a beautiful adventure and we are very much looking forward to challenging them."

The Hull game could be crucial for both sides

While the City tie is undoubtedly an extremely attractive proposition for the Pilgrims, it is the Hull game that could have the biggest bearing on their future as a club.

Ruben Selles’ Tigers find themselves just one place above the drop zone and, should Plymouth leave the MKM Stadium with all three points on Tuesday night, they can go level on points with their hosts.

With the Pilgrims bottom of the league when Muslic inherited the side from previous incumbent Wayne Rooney at the start of January, he has already overseen an impressive turnaround, given that they now have a fighting chance of surviving the drop.

Their run of one defeat in their last six league games has put Plymouth in pole position to avoid slipping into League One and, with the likes of Hull, Stoke and Cardiff hovering precariously above the bottom three, it remains perfectly plausible that Muslic’s men could complete the turnaround and escape the drop.

It goes without saying though that Tuesday night’s game could play a vital part in the future of both clubs. Hull have lost four of their last seven in the league, but incredibly have away victories at both Sheffield United and Sunderland in the middle of that run.

The Tigers were dealt a blow earlier this week with the news that on-loan star Louie Barry has had to return to parent club Aston Villa as a result of a knee injury sustained in that win in the North East.

For Plymouth, with Hull, Portsmouth and Derby still to play, there remains plenty of opportunity to save themselves, but it’s imperative that they don’t allow their cup exploits to detract from their main goal.