Argyle Head Coach Tom Cleverley rued his side’s missed chances, particularly during the first half, in the 1-1 draw against Mansfield Town at Home Park on Tuesday night.
The game was a one-sided affair, certainly for the first 40 minutes or so, with the impressive Bim Pepple giving the Greens a well-deserved lead, but, despite opportunities to double the advantage, Argyle could not find a second, and they were made to pay. Ryan Sweeney scored a scruffy Mansfield equaliser not long before the interval, and Cleverley’s team never really hit their first-half standards again.
The draw followed consecutive 1-0 wins against Peterborough United and Luton Town, in which Argyle had similarly dominant performances, and although not adding to the tally after the first goal in those games, kept the clean sheet to claim three points.
“We need to be more clinical,” said the boss, who had watched the game from the stands, serving a suspension. “I don't think we'll put in many more dominant performances than that first half of football. To go in at 1-1, we've let them off the hook. The overriding feeling is two points dropped, and a massive disappointment in there, which shows you how far we've come in 10, 12 weeks.
“I think we would have been delighted with a point at home against a strong Mansfield side, but where we've come and where we're wanting to go, we're really disappointed that we've dominated the game and come away with only a point.
“You've got to replicate that [first-half] performance again because if we do, we give ourselves the best chance of winning the game. I didn't feel like we quite hit the heights of the first half. Second half, it was a bit more bitty.
“I didn't think we kept the rhythm in the game well enough, or as much as we did first half. We didn't create as much, but we've certainly created in the last three games enough to give me a lot of hope moving forward.
“We were probably more dominant in the last three league games than we were against Burton, where it was 3-0. We're doing a lot of good things. I didn't think [Mansfield] did anywhere near enough to score a goal today. Structurally, all the basics are there from a defensive perspective, there's a lot of sustainable things in these performances that I'm seeing.
“The problem you'd most likely like to have as a coach is that last action, the one that puts the ball in the net.
Asked about Bim Pepple’s performance, Cleverley repeated one specific word: “Outstanding,” he said. “Outstanding. I think he was disappointed with his missed chance at the weekend. He came out and practiced yesterday. He's hungry, and I thought he took his goal magnificently well.
“His all-round performance was super effective, and he is looking like the player we brought in. We wanted to develop him. If there's one word you say about Bim, he's ‘effective’. You always feel like he can have an effect on the game, and I love working with those players.”
For the full interview, watch it now on Argyle TV.
