Springtime

CARL McHugh wants Argyle’s three-win week to be the springboard for a successful season.

The Pilgrims’ defender was at the centre of a magnificent second-half defensive display at Tranmere as Argyle stubbornly protected the lead given them by Reuben Reid’s 29th-minute headed conversion of Anthony O’Connor’s excellent cross, his seventh goal of the season.

“We ground it out today, even though, in the first half, we played some brilliant football,” said the 21-year-old Irishman.

“The move before the goal was great; we kept the ball for a good minute or so. We moved it from side to side and were patient, then we got in. It was a brilliant goal – a great ball by Anthony and a great header – and I thought we deserved the win.

“We probably made it a bit tougher for ourselves towards the end than we needed to. We played really well in the first half, but when it comes like that and you are under a bit of pressure, we all dug in, stuck together, got our blocks and heads in front of stuff, and kept a clean sheet. That is the main thing when you come away from home – you give yourself a good chance of winning the game, and we did.

“We all just put 100 per cent into it, tried to get our positioning right and we got our heads on most things. It’s not going to be pretty every week; there’s going to be a lot of ugly wins and you need that if you are going to be successful.”

‘Successful’ is certainly applicable to Argyle’s recent week, which has seen them win twice in the league without conceding a goal and knock Sky Bet League 1 Swindon out of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.

“It’s been a good week but we have done nothing yet,” said Carl. “We just need to use it as a springboard for the rest of the season. Things can change really quickly in football – everyone can say you are great team after winning three games, but you lose a few and it changes very quickly. We’ll just look towards Carlisle next week.”