Inquest Over

THE Argyle dressing-room inquest following last Saturday’s 4-0 home Sky Bet League 2 defeat by York was not a long one.

“I’ve told [the players]: ‘Forget about the result – it’s gone, there’s nothing we can do about it. We have got to show a bit of character and try to get a result now’,” said Pilgrims’ manager John Sheridan.

“Last week was a poor result. We knew what was at stake and where we would have been if we could have got a good result; everything would have been a lot healthier. But it’s gone now.”

With seventh-placed Southend losing, the Pilgrims missed out on a chance to narrow the points gap between themselves and the play-offs, but John is still confident Argyle’s season can extend beyond their final league match at Portsmouth on May 3.

“I’m not getting carried away by one result,” he said. “I feel as if the team has been doing okay. We were on a decent run, to be fair – in the top five in the division. The result was upsetting because we knew what was at stake.

“One or two other results went our way, and that’s the unfortunate thing. We haven’t capitalised. There was an opportunity and sometimes, when we are getting there, we just don’t really go for it. I want us to have a bit of belief. I still believe we can get into the play-offs. That’s really the way I feel.

“There are ten teams that are thinking they have got a chance. Someone’s going to come out of the pack and why can’t it be us? But we can’t keep letting games go by because we are making it a little bit harder as each game goes by.”

One of those teams harbouring similar ambitions are Dagenham & Redbridge, who host the Pilgrims this Saturday.

John said: “Last home game, when we drew and had wanted to win, we went and won away; we have got to try and do that. We have got to put [the defeat by York] to the back of our minds, if we can, and go out and get a positive result.

“It will be a hard game at Dagenham. They have got a good home record and they are a team which is in and around the same area as us, so it will be a difficult game, but we will go there and try to win.

“They have got some good players; they have got a bit of pace in the team; and I thought they were a decent team even though we beat them 2-1 here. They are having a decent season and will feel that, like a few teams, if they can get a couple of wins they can have a little bit of hope of getting in the play-offs.”