Plymouth Argyle manager Wayne Rooney had admitted he has been pleased with his side’s recent performances despite slipping to the bottom of the Championship.
The Pilgrims enter the Christmas period in a precarious situation. A win for Hull City at the weekend means that Wayne Rooney is looking up at the rest of the division ahead of the trip to Coventry City on Boxing Day.
Despite that, there have been little shoots of positivity in recent weeks. Despite going down 2-0 against league leaders Sheffield United at Bramall Lane earlier this month, there was enough in the performance to show that Plymouth are willing to fight. They followed that with a 3-3 draw against Middlesbrough on Saturday at Home Park, a game in which they led three times.
Wayne Rooney Hoping For Confidence
Despite only picking up one point in the last two games, Rooney believes his side should be full of confidence ahead of the trip to the CBS Areana. Speaking to official club media, the former England international said:
“Over the last week or 10 days, performances have certainly improved,” said Wayne. “I thought Saturday was a very good performance from an attacking point of view. I thought we were really good, just a little bit disappointed with the goals we conceded; a bit of naivety I felt, from our point of view.
“Certainly, there were a lot of positives in the performance against a very good team, and it gives us confidence going into the game against Coventry.”
Plymouth have another away game to contend with on December 29th, with Oxford United the hosts at the Kassam Stadium. The Pilgrims are yet to win on the road this season but will be hoping to change that in the coming days.
Writer’s View
On the face of it, Rooney’s comments seem ludicrous. His team are bottom of the division with just two points away from Home Park and with two away games on the horizon. However, he is right. Plymouth have been much improved in the past two games and were perhaps unlucky to come up against two of the stronger teams in the Championship.
If they can match those performances against Coventry and Oxford, they have a big chance. The game against the U’s is potentially season-defining too, with the two teams separated by only goal difference. We will know much more about Plymouth’s chances after these two games.
