Hill to Climb

AFTER Argyle's 3-2 defeat to Dagenham & Redbridge, Derek Adams called for better execution from his players across the pitch as they prepare for the season's final two games.

Goals from Clevid Dikamona, Matty Cash and Christian Doidge put the visitors out of sight by the end of the first half at Home Park, with goals after the break from Graham Carey and Peter Hartley unable to claw back the deficit.

The defeat leaves Argyle three points behind Sky Bet League 2's automatic promotion places with two games to go, and the boss has admitted that ending the campaign in the top three places is now very unlikely.

"It's going to be extremely difficult now if you can't win against the bottom side in the table," said Adams. "When you need to win, it's going to be extremely difficult.

"We need two wins from our last two games now. We need people to lose matches for us to get into the automatic promotion places. You can't be inconsistent at this time of the season, you have to be consistent and be on top of things all the time."

That inconsistency was shown at Home Park as the Greens lost to the division's basement side after two terrific victories the week before, but Adams believes the preparation ahead of the final two matches must remain the same if they are to stand any chance of finishing in the top three.

"We have to prepare exactly the same way that we have done," said Adams, "but we have to defend better then we did today, and take our chances.

"You keep on fighting away but it's going to be very difficult now, because you've got Bristol Rovers, Accrington Stanley and Oxford United all in a better position than us."