Schumacher's Wednesday Reaction

Steven Schumacher expressed his pride with his players despite Argyle’s 1-0 defeat at promotion rivals Sheffield Wednesday.

The Owls won the battle of Sky Bet League One’s top two via Callum Paterson’s early strike and maintained that single goal advantage throughout the afternoon.

A long afternoon it was too. The game featured 18 minutes of injury time in total, in large part because of first-half injuries to Pilgrims defender Dan Scarr and goalkeeper Mike Cooper.

Argyle reacted to all those setbacks and never dropped their heads in a game played in a febrile atmosphere at Hillsborough, but despite having the better chances after the break, could not find a precious equaliser.

Had they done so, they would have set a club record of 13 away games without defeat in the league away from home. That said, to have not lost on the road in League One since August is an achievement worth being proud of.

“It was a good game,” said Schumacher. “Two good teams, strong teams. It was a battle. It wasn't a free-flowing game of football, which we didn't really expect it to be, the way Sheffield Wednesday play.

“We had a little setback with the goal and two other setbacks in losing two key players.

“I am proud of the players though because we could have crumbled and fell apart today, but we pushed them all away and it felt that in the second half we were probably the better team, created some good chances or half chances but it just wasn't meant to be today.

“There are ways to lose a game and we're not going to go unbeaten away from home. It’s our first defeat since August. There's always going to be a time where we didn’t manage to score an equaliser or produce a moment of quality. But I'm pleased with the way we did lose. We didn't fall apart; we kept going.

“We threw everything that we had at them. The game was scrappy, and Sheffield Wednesday showed their experience in the second half, killed it off a little bit, didn't let it allow us to get into a rhythm.

“We could have done better with the early goal, but the lads showed great character because many other teams would crumble under that sort of pressure in the atmosphere that the game was played in today.

“That gives me good confidence that we're ready for this fight, and if we could carry on playing like that and putting in the effort that we did, then we'll be fine. We'll win plenty more games.”

There is no early word on the severity of the injuries to Scarr and Cooper, although Schumacher did confirm that Scarr had suffered a foot injury, while Cooper’s issue is to his knee. Prognoses on the pair are pending

The boss had praise for Callum Burton, coming on in goal for his league debut for Argyle, and Nigel Lonwijk, who replaced Scarr.

At half-time, Ryan Hardie and Sam Cosgrove were thrown on to alter Argyle’s attacking options, with Callum Wright also being introduced in the second period.

Schumacher told us: “Dan Scarr said he has a problem with his foot. He felt something go pop under his toe when he went up for a header.

“Michael said it's his knee; it doesn't look too good. He's on crutches at the moment and not moving too well. It might be a serious one, but we don't know until we get a scan next week. It’s a real disappointment.

“[Callum's] a good goalkeeper. He pushes Michael every day in training, like Michael used to push Alex Palmer every day in training.

“That's why Michael's performances are so good, because Callum’s right behind him. Callum did really well. He looked calm and assured. Everything that he had to deal with, he did. If he has to play a number of games, then so be it. We’ll have to assess it. It's too early to make any calls yet on that situation.

“I thought Sam and Ryan gave us something to build from and gave us a platform. Could we have done that earlier on? Maybe, possibly. Could we have started with that? I don't know. But the way I saw the game going would be to go with energy and then have two goalscorers on the pitch when Sheffield Wednesday give up the most of their chances.

“We had to make the decision at half-time and I thought Sam and Ryan did brilliantly. They got us into the game, got us up the pitch, Cozzie in particular. He looked a threat and nearly scored with a brilliant effort and we had Ryan's threat on the break. Callum Wright did well when he come on as well."

The game was watched by a crowd of over 33,000, including 3,700 of the Green Army. Ultimately, they will have headed home to Plymouth and elsewhere with no points to boast, but judging by their post-match reaction as the players and staff acknowledged the traveling hoards, they appreciated the effort and application of their men in green.

“We just didn't manage to get that equaliser that our fans would've loved to have seen,” said an equally appreciative Schumacher. “They stayed to applaud the players because they could see the effort that we all put in.

“Thank you for that, and thanks to all their efforts. We'll try again. Next time we go away from a home, I'm sure they'll follow us again in the numbers. And next week against Portsmouth will be sold out. We'll keep going, keep giving everything for the shirt. We gave it 100%; that's all we can ask for.”