Ryan Lowe ready for Monday showdown with error-ridden Plymouth players

Posted Sunday, December 13, 2020 by PA

Ryan Lowe promised his Plymouth players a tough post-mortem at training on Monday after a display riddled with errors at both ends of the pitch.

Rovers’ two first-half goals – a seventh-minute header from Alfie Kilgour and 26th-minute shot from Luke McCormick – both resulted from failure to defend left-wing corners.

And Plymouth also squandered some great chances in the opposition box before Zain Westbrooke’s low shot from a Sam Nicholson cutback completed their misery five minutes from time.

Argyle contributed plenty to an open game, but Lowe fumed: “I’m told we had 25 goal attempts, but that means nothing to me at the moment.

“I have to be careful what I say because my mind is full of negative thoughts at the moment.

“We work hard on defending set-pieces, yet we were undone by one after only seven minutes and then allowed another corner to pass between four or five bodies for their lad to score.

“What we are doing in both boxes at the moment is killing us. We had enough chances to win three games, let alone one.

“If we were good in both boxes, we would be sixth or seventh in the league, but we are not and we need to go back to basics.

“I have let my assistant and first-team coach speak to the players in the dressing room, but on Monday it will come more powerfully from me.

“What I am going to say, the players are not going to like. But it is roll your sleeves up time because we need to start picking points up.”

For new Rovers boss Paul Tisdale, it was a third win in the space of a week and he was understandably delighted.

“It was a hard-working performance and we were good in both penalty areas, so I’m very happy,” he said.

“Every game is different and this one offered a challenge that the players embraced and made sure they came out of on top.

“It’s early days and I have just tried to focus on points that can make a difference in matches without saying too much.

“Getting goals from set-pieces is always good and it was nice to keep a clean sheet. The players gave Jordi Van Stappershoef a round of applause in the dressing room because he had a really good game in goal.

“It’s a high-quality problem for a manager when the team is winning, scoring goals, and creating fierce competition for places.

“We’ve had a very good week, but things can easily turn and we have some tough games coming up. No one will be getting carried away.”