Plymouth Argyle's points tally right now compared to this time last season | OneFootball

The Greens are unsurprisingly worse off than they were at this stage last season, given their issues this season

We are entering the final third of the Championship season, with every point being more important than ever between now and the end of the campaign, with things beginning to hot up and the top and bottom of the table.

For Plymouth Argyle, the mission is simply to avoid relegation, with Miron Muslic earning his first win as Pilgrims boss last time out against West Bromwich Albion to help his side harbour hopes of turning things around at the foot of the table.

With no win in 15 league games before beating the Baggies, it has hardly been a vintage year at Home Park, and an even worse one away from Devon, with the Greens still yet to pick up an away victory all season, much due to Wayne Rooney’s inability to alter his setup on the road.

But how do things compare to this time last year for the south west side? We took a look at the 23/24 campaign after 30 matches to find the comparison.

Plymouth Argyle’s 24/25 campaign to date

As mentioned, Argyle found life hard under Rooney, with the former Manchester United man struggling for points during his time in charge at Home Park, before departing Devon on New Year’s Day.

After failing to win any of the first four league games of the season, Argyle finally claimed their first three-point haul of the season against Sunderland in a dramatic encounter at Home Park, with Joe Edwards’ late winner settling matters with seconds left on the clock.

Further successes over Luton Town and Blackburn Rovers helped to paper over the cracks that came in the first-half of the campaign, with the two points on the road against Derby County and Queens Park Rangers all they had to show for their efforts before Rooney waved his goodbyes.

Too many times the Pilgrims would collapse when away from the comforts of Home Park, with three, four, five or six goals being conceded time and time again, with the players finally looking like they had thrown in the towel across the Festive period.

The early part of Muslic’s reign has since seen a sturdiness in part, with a battling 2-2 draw with Sunderland being backed up by the Albion victory last time out, which leaves thoughts of survival slightly more realistic than at the start of the calendar year, with everyone singing from the same hymn sheet under the former Cercle Brugge boss.

Plymouth Argyle 23/24 season comparison

At the 30-point mark last season, Argyle had similarly just traveled the length and breadth of the country to play Sunderland, with the Mackems claiming the spoils in a 3-1 victory that day at the Stadium of Light.

All in all, things were looking steady in the early days of Ian Foster, with the former England youth boss taking over from the departed Steven Schumacher, who had left for Stoke City in December.

In fact, that loss at the Stadium of Light was Foster’s first defeat in 90 minutes in his month as Argyle boss at that point, with a draw against Huddersfield Town followed by victories over Cardiff City and Swansea City, as well as an extra time defeat to Leeds United in an FA Cup replay, following a 1-1 draw at Elland Road.

The Pilgrims were sitting pretty in 15th at this point, with 36 points from their 30 matches, and a hefty seven points above Queens Park Rangers in the final relegation spot.

Foster’s time in charge would soon turn sour though, and coupled with Sheffield Wednesday and QPR picking up points at a rate of knots, they had to rely on a final day fiasco against Hull City to keep themselves in the league, with their boss being shown the door with six games of the season remaining.

Although it was the complete opposite scenario, Argyle can take heart from that situation last time around, with two of the three sides in the relegation zone at a similar stage both avoiding relegation after appointing a manager who had learned his trade overseas.

With a number of teams out of form at the bottom of the division, there is still hope that anything can happen, and after getting that long-awaited victory last time out, there are small green shoots of recovery slowly starting to grow around Home Park right now.