Miron Muslic opted not to let the circumstances surrounding Middlesbrough's winning goal cloud his judgment on Argyle’s performance at the Riverside Stadium on Friday.
The Greens lost 2-1 at Boro, with the winning goal coming from a somewhat controversial penalty in injury time. Former Pilgrim Finn Azaz had put Middlesbrough in front, but Mustapha Bundu equalised quickly, and Argyle held their own against the play-off chasers.
Boro had plenty of possession and pressure, but Argyle countered often and had several chances of their own, including an opportunity when Michael Obafemi went forward late on, with Muhamed Tijani for company, but Boro regained the ball and, within a minute, got a penalty.
Joe Edwards was adjudged, harshly, to have fouled Tommy Conway in the area. Edwards was sent off, and Conway converted, giving Middlesbrough the win, and costing Argyle a point that could have proved precious.
Now, the Greens will face Coventry City on Monday, in the third-last game of the season, with time running out for Argyle to claw their away out of the relegation zone.
“I think the lads delivered a brilliant game,” said Muslic. “I think creating over an expected goals value of two, away against Middlesbrough, creating four or five big goalscoring opportunities, says a lot about our performance.
“Also, big moments when we defended, I think we defended very well against a very strong opponent, [who are] super dangerous in between the lines and the pockets, but I think we found a good structure to keep them out. In big, big moments, Conor [Hazard] was also there to save us. You need those saves and those moments of consistently being a threat in transition.
“There's nothing to regret with our performance, and then you lose this point in minute 93 with a penalty. As you can imagine. It's a big hit.
“Sixty seconds before we concede the penalty, we had a two-versus-two. These are big moments. We have to take advantage of them, and we let some big moments today go without a reward.
“Theoretically, we still have a chance. The next opportunity for us is Monday. And why not? I think we gave it all today, we sacrificed until minute 100. We tried everything, we just could not reward ourselves.
“I think the Green Army recognised this. They saw this, that we just simply gave it all. That was also my wording inside the locker room.
“The next opportunity for us is Monday, and we will give it all again.”
The full interview is available to watch on Argyle TV.
