Yann on the Run

The Pilgrims have bounced back from losing their season opener at home to Luton and subsequent away game at Carlisle to win six on the spin and go from the bottom of the table to two points clear at the top.

After the sixth of those victories – a 2-0 win at Devon rivals Exeter on Saturday – Yann admitted Derek Adams’ revamped squad had needed the wake-up call of the early double defeat.

He said: “We had a good pre-season and we thought, not that it would be easy, but we were ready to engage the season, and I think it was a good thing for us to get a slap in the face from Carlisle and Luton, to wake ourselves up and to get better.

“You have to understand that 14 new players came to the club and, for most of us, this is a new league, and it’s a really tough league.

“Anyone can win any game; there is not a big difference between any of the teams. You have to give 100% every game.”

Giving 100% has resulted in a winning run unseen for more than a decade. Another victory at home to Hartlepool in their next match and you have to go back to an era when few of the current squad were born, and even the manager was still at primary school, to find a match.

“It is a fantastic run,” said Yann. “It hasn’t happened since 2003-04. We have to keep it going. We go now next Saturday against Hartlepool hoping to get the three points and clean sheet.

“Confidence is high and it is early in the season but it is good to get the results by now. All the team is really focussed. We know where we want to go. We know the objective is to get promoted. We need to take it game by game and work as hard as we can.”

The hard work at Exeter came after first-quarter goals from Graham Carey and Arnold Garita had set up the victory, which was clinched by a fourth clean sheet in the last five league games.

“We had a really good start,” said Yann. “We dropped the level a little bit towards the end of the first half but obviously we defended very well and the most important thing is the win and the clean sheet.

“Our centre-halves had a really good game. [Exeter] pushed on in the second half with lots of crosses, but we defended well as a team and are happy with the clean sheet.”