Shuttleworth Reacts to Blackburn Victory
Assistant Head Coach Pete Shuttleworth was naturally delighted with Argyle’s 2-1 win over Blackburn Rovers at Home Park, achieved when Morgan Whittaker scored a winner deep into injury time.
It was just rewards for the Pilgrims, who had numerous chances against the Lancastrian visitors, but looked like they may only come away with a point, when Joe Rankin-Costello headed in an 86th-minute equaliser to cancel out Michael Obafemi’s first-half opener.
“We keep making a habit of these last-minute goals, don't we?” said a relieved and elated Shuttleworth. “They feel great and it leaves the fans leaving happy, but yeah, let's do it a little bit earlier. It'd be so much nicer for my heart!
“I thought it was outstanding from start to finish. The slight disappointment is that we didn't kill the game off, because I think if we were going into the last minutes 2-0 or 3-0 up, I don't think anybody could have had any qualms about that.
“I thought we passed the ball really well. I thought we penetrated, we looked dangerous. Our attacking players were a threat for the whole game. It was a different kind of game because they came and sat in a little bit. We had a lot of the ball in the first half and we had to generate our own tempo.
“We've become a really good team at taking the football and building from the back. Players with confidence - the goalkeeper, through Rands (Adam Randell), to the two centre-backs, gives us an element of control in the game.
“What we've done the last few weeks is challenge the lads to go and be more of a threat. We don't want to be a team who just talks about possession stats. We want to be a team who win games of football and win games of football comfortably.
“Going forward, we looked a real threat. Some of our patterns of play; it's really satisfying as a coach to sit there and watch what you've worked on all week come to fruition.
“I can't speak highly enough of [the players]. Not only have they taken on board everything we've asked from day one, there's a real good spirit here, but there's also loads of ability.
“A lot of teams, after the disappointment of the goal against and how that came about, could have gone under. They could have been the team who had another chance to win the game.
“We had two chances after going 1-1 and we were the ones pushing to go and get the winner. That's a real mentality shift from early in the season and something which I'm delighted with.”
The Pilgrims go into the imminent international window having come through what looked to be a dauntingly tough five-game spell. Of the five upcoming opponents, four were in the top seven with the other – Luton Town – admittedly below 22nd placed Argyle, but having been a Premier League team last season.
Argyle have come through that quintet of games with three wins, all at home, against Sunderland, Luton and now Blackburn, and have lost by the narrowest of margins, 1-0, at West Bromwich Albion and Burnley.
The Greens are now in 14th, having picked up nine points from five games in a thrilling 22-day period.
“This block of games has been fantastic little spell for us,” said Pete. “It gives us something to build on. It’s given us something to build on going forward.
“Nine points, and two disappointments away from home that we haven't got more. You can never be delighted when you lose, but actually the two 1-0s away, where we've gone toe-to-toe against two of the top teams in the division, have also shown where we've come as a team.
“The three home games have been great. We felt as an opposition last year [with Birmingham]. To come here, feel that here - the noise when the fans get behind us, when they see the team playing like that, it's brilliant.
“You go to bed tonight and you have a real warm feeling about winning home games in front of these amazing supporters here.”
