No Defending the Indefensible

Despite a rallying effort from the Greens, emphasised by a brace from Jake Jervis and a stunning goal from Graham Carey, Argyle departed their second cup competition in four days. A Lee Gregory hat-trick, as well as goals from Aiden O’Brien and Lee Beevers, ensured a 5-3 defeat for Argyle - the first time this season that they have conceded more than two goals in a game.

“We can’t defend the way we defended for the five goals we conceded,” said Derek. “They were all preventable.

“They were goals that came out of, really, nothing. We could’ve defended the situation a lot better.

“I’ve got to say that Millwall are a very good side. They’re obviously a league ahead of us and doing well at the top. Their two strikers, Gregory and [Steve] Morison, caused us problems. They are very good players, but the mistakes we made leading up the goals were very preventable.”

There were still positives to take from the defeat, including the full début of Bolton Wanderers loanee Oscar Threlkeld, who impressed his boss.

“I thought he was excellent tonight,” said Derek. “He did really well in midfield, he kept hold of the ball and tackled. I thought it was a disciplined performance from him."

The two strikes from Jervis see him return to the top of Argyle’s goalscoring charts as goals for the Greens continue to fly in at an impressive rate.

“He was in and about the box,” said Derek. “His first one is a striker’s goal; the second one, he’s picked up and run with it, and it’s a very good strike. He’s top goalscorer now, so we’re delighted with that.

“Listen: we’ll score goals. There’s no problem about that. We’ve got players throughout the team – and we’ve seen this tonight against League 1 opposition – that can create chances. We just need to keep it tight at the back, and we didn’t do that tonight.”