Norwich City (A) | Houghton's Reaction

Midfielder Jordan Houghton was at the heart of a long of the good things that Argyle did -and there were plenty - at Norwich City on Friday.

The Greens took the lead via Morgan Whittaker and had chances to add to their tally throughout the encounter but, ultimately, two set-piece goals from Norwich turned the tables in the Canaries’ favour. 

Speaking to Argyle TV after the game, Houghton expressed frustration that Argyle had played well, yet their performance had yielded no points. 

“For the whole game, I thought we did really well,” he said. “I think the fans appreciated that at the end. But at the end of the day, that’s not quite good enough. 

“Being in those positions in games, we need to be coming away with points. The amount of chances we had – albeit they had a few as well – but to lose the points on two set-pieces is really disappointing. 

“We worked so hard, in a structure that caused them a lot of problems. I thought we transitioned well, and counter-attacked well, causing them a lot of issues.”

There were 1,400 of the Green Army in the away end at Norwich, heading to Norfolk on an Easter weekend, some on the official coaches which were partially subsidised by the club. 

Argyle are in action at home to Bristol City on Monday, with another jam-packed Home Park crowd expected. Jordan is under no illusions that Argyle need to pick up points in the remaining seven games of the season, to ensure the goal of staying in the division is attained. 

Doing that together, he says, is the way forward. 

“There’s no hiding away from the fact that we need to pick up points,” said Houghton. “That’s the pressure that comes on us, as players. We need to pick up, take the buck and come away with points. 

“It’s not enough to have pats on the backs, be happy with performances and not get any points, because this is a man’s game now, where it is tough. It hurts when you play well and don’t get any points, but at the end of the day if it comes to the end of the season and we haven’t picked up enough points, it’s not enough to be happy with performances. 

“It's raw at the moment, but when you wake up tomorrow and think of the positives from it, we need to take that into Bristol, because it is a massive game. 

“We need to pick ourselves up; we can’t dwell on this now. We need the fans backing us, because we need to make it a really hostile atmosphere for Bristol. We can’t have any negativity, we need to have everyone on board, going in the right direction. 

“We need to start that game on the front foot, we need to get at them, and ultimately pick up three points. That comes from the fans, the team – everyone together, pushing in the right direction.”