Seamless Transition

Craig Tanner, Josh Simpson and Ben Purrington were brought into the side for the Greens’ 5,000th competitive game, coming in for the suspended Carl McHugh and Gary Sawyer, as well as Graham Carey, who was nursing a knock to his knee.

The trio of Pilgrims were all instrumental in the Greens’ sublime display – not least Tanner, who sent in the corner for Hiram Boateng to open the scoring, before bearing down on the Exeter back line and slotting home a goal of his own.

“We had three players that came in tonight - Purrington, Simpson and Tanner - and they seamlessly went into the team,” said Adams. 

“That’s a good thing, and there’ll be a few nervous faces now for Sunday, but that’s what you need. We’ve got a good number of players that have come in tonight and caused them a problem.” 

On the subject of Purrington’s first start of the season, Derek said: “He was excellent tonight. 

“It wasn’t easy for him, because Gary Sawyer has played the whole season there and done really well. But I thought he was composed, he defended well, and his use of the ball was excellent.” 

That strength in depth may well be needed for Argyle’s next game, as they take on a large Notts County squad in front of the television cameras on Sunday. 

“When you look at last week, Notts County changed a lot of players from the team that played the week,” said Derek. 

“I’m not sure what they did tonight, but they’ve got a squad of 35 players, and I’ve used – I think – 18 players this season. We’ll see how Sunday goes. 

“You need a good squad, and as you go along the season, you want to have that problem. We’ve got players now who are pushing other players in the team.”