Argyle came up short at home to Peterborough United on Saturday, losing 1-0 to a team that started the weekend bottom of Sky Bet League One.
Tom Cleverley’s Pilgrims came into the game on a run of three wins in a row; having beaten Cheltenham Town in the Vertu Trophy, they beat a pair of Hatters - Stockport County and Luton Town – to complete the hat-trick. However, Peterborough came to Home Park and won thanks for a Jimmy-Jay Morgan goal, and returned to Cambridgeshire with all three points.
“It was massively disappointing,” said Cleverley. “We were in a good run of form, winning our last three games, two in the league, and there was a little bit of uncertainty about what we would get today, because we've not managed to get any consistency.
“Could we deal with the pressure that comes with being favourites to win the game? Can we deal with a setback?
“All the answers are no. All the tests, we've not passed today. So that is a huge disappointment. We need to show a bit more character when we concede the first goal.
“I don't think we were anywhere near our performance levels of the last two weeks and thoroughly deserved what we got.
“Mentality is everything. We've got a lot of players [for whom] this kind of pressure is new, and a setback is just a little bit too far of a bridge for them to cross at the minute.
“There was a big emphasis this week on our performance levels, not on the opposition or where they are in the league, or whether we're home or away. It was our performance levels - and nowhere near it today.
“We struggled a little bit in wide areas to get quality into the box today.
“It's important that the players understand that you're going to have one or two disappointments; you must keep trying to test them and test them. [Peterborough] have conceded from a lot of crosses, I just didn't think we got the ball in their box enough, or enough numbers in the box.
“I didn't think we managed the game well enough in the second half. We put a second striker on, and you expect us to be a bit more direct; I just thought we were a little bit passive and lacking tempo.
“[There’s] a lot of things to address in this game.”
