ASHLEY Barnes is living the dream, and loving every minute of it.

The young striker was credited with the first goal in Argyle's tremendous 4-0 battering of Coventry City and his decision to stay at Home Park has been proven correct.

After seeming a million miles from a Championship debut at the start of the season, Barnes has emerged as a regular, and he believes the loan spell at Eastbourne over Christmas was the catalyst.

He said: "It has been amazing - starting, week in, week out, in the Championship has been what I've dreamed of. Now I have succeeded, I need to keep my place and work hard.

"I could have gone at the start of the season but I decided to stay and fight for a place, and obviously I have done that now.

"I wanted to prove I could play in the Championship. It helped me massively [the spell at Eastbourne]. Playing regular games gave me a massive boost.

"They [his team-mates] have all brilliant to me. They have helped me in training and given me little points to improve on."

Argyle's win over Coventry lifts the Greens six points clear of the relegation zone with four games to go, in a perfect afternoon.

After Barnes' disputed goal, Jamie Mackie, Alan Judge and Marcel Seip all notched to give the Greens an incredible half-time lead.

"4-0, who would have thought it," said Barnes.

"It shocked us all really but there was still another 45 minutes and if they scored, it could have been a different game. We needed to hold tight for the first 15 minutes [of the second-half]."

Next up for Barnes is the Easter Monday trip to Birmingham City - the dream goes on.