TOM Cleverley wants Plymouth Argyle to ride the wave of Monday night’s Devon derby triumph and turn growing excitement around Home Park into a promotion push.

Twelve months on from the start of his Argyle reign, Cleverley and his team are in a very different place.

The uncertainty and frustration of a difficult opening to last season have been replaced by belief, momentum and genuine excitement about what this Argyle side can achieve.

And Monday’s dramatic 2-0 Carabao Cup victory over bitter rivals Exeter City could hardly have provided a better launchpad.

With Exeter’s resistance finally broken by Alex Hartridge in added time before Bim Pepple wrapped up the victory moments later, Home Park erupted.

Now Cleverley wants his players to take that feeling into tomorrow’s League One opener against Stockport County.

“There was nothing dress rehearsal about it because it was a must-win game for us,” said Cleverley. “It was high intensity, high energy, really connected with our supporters.

“It was nice to have that as a first game back to take and ride that wave into the first league game. We are really excited for this game Saturday. I think it will be two very good teams who have their own identities, putting on a good show for the supporters.”

However, the Argyle boss knows the feel-good factor will count for little if his side do not back it up against a Stockport team he expects to provide a serious test.

County finished third in League One last season before suffering a 4-1 defeat to Bolton Wanderers in the play-off final at Wembley. They have since replaced Dave Challinor with Jim McNulty, who guided Rochdale back into the EFL from the National League.

Cleverley has done his homework. He travelled to watch Stockport draw 1-1 with Doncaster Rovers in the Carabao Cup last weekend, before losing on penalties, having already watched Argyle’s second league opponents Wycombe Wanderers lose to Stevenage.

“I think it’s always beneficial to see them live,” he said. “You get a good feel of what type of team they are, of what they are maybe asking for from the sidelines, strengths, weaknesses.

“I’m pleased I did it. Jim has done a great job in six weeks getting a clear identity over to the players and I thought they controlled the game. They ultimately went out when they maybe didn’t deserve to. A very controlled performance and we are going to have to be on our ‘A’ game to overcome a tough challenge.”

Cleverley believes Monday’s derby success has already provided the first building block for a strong start to the campaign.

“I feel like we took step one of that on Monday because the momentum you can take from that, the confidence that can give a lot of people, especially the new players,” he said.

“Although we are not saying that this is the be all and end all this weekend, it's really important to get off to a good start and do what we can control to make sure we are right at it.”

Argyle have been widely tipped as promotion contenders, but Cleverley is refusing to get carried away.

“One step at a time,” he said. “I think I have got a team that can win on Saturday. Long term we would love to be doing that, 12 other coaches should be saying the same thing.

“We have to maximise everything we have got, from the resources we have got, on a daily basis, be really consistent with that, and we will give ourselves a good go at it, but right now it’s winning the next game. We have just got to be the best version of ourselves.”

That is a message which has been central to Cleverley’s preparations.

The 36-year-old learned plenty during his first season in charge, particularly as Argyle recovered from a disastrous start and narrowly missed out on the League One play-offs.

“I learned a lot about the league, learned a lot about our group, and how do you knit the two together to create game plans for our strengths that will be effective in the league,” he said.

“I feel like we are in a much better place now. That doesn't give us the right to then go and win on Saturday. We have still got to go and do certain things, but I feel like we are set up a lot more consistently, a lot more effectively.”

Argyle have also developed a winning habit, with Cleverley pointing to 16 victories from their last 26 competitive matches.

And that has fuelled his belief that the club is moving in the right direction.

“Really excited about the upcoming season and what the future holds for the progress of the football club,” he said. “We are really dedicated to getting the most out of that.

“I wake up feeling really lucky I’m Argyle manager. I wake up so motivated to win games for the club, so motivated to develop players individually. I couldn't be happier where I am.”

At the beginning of pre-season, Cleverley challenged his players to embrace three words – expectation, anticipation and excitement.

Now he wants those feelings to grow with every passing week.

“My challenge to the players is ‘Can those three words be bigger next week?’” he said. “How do we do that? We do it by winning, but it first of all by hard work, by preparing the best we possibly can and next week the expectation might be a little bit bigger, and we want it to be.”