Stoke City (H) | Schumacher's Reaction

Argyle came from behind against Stoke City at Home Park on Saturday, winning 2-1 thanks to the kind of goal that seems to have been pre-ordained by scriptwriters.  

Plymouth-born Adam Randell, on his 100th game for Argyle, scored his first Home Park goal in the seventh minute of stoppage to clinch three vital points for the team. His team.

His manager, Steven Schumacher, shared in the delight.

“It’s fairy-tale stuff,” said a beaming Schumacher, after the game. “It was a brilliant, brilliant way to end the game. We've been on the wrong end of a few of those last-minute goals this season and they're a killer. I feel a bit for Stoke because they've worked hard to stay in the game and probably thought they'd got a point.

“Thankfully they didn’t; thankfully Adam stuck it in the net.”

Last season, a key aspect of Argyle’s title-winning Sky Bet League One campaign was the influence made by substitutes during the game. Time and again players left the bench to impact proceedings, as Argyle more than most adapted to the introduction of five replacements in a game.

This time round, Randell was one such substitute, and had the headline-making bearing on the game, but he was not the only player to affect the game from the bench in a positive way.

Along with Randell, Ryan Hardie, Callum Wright, Mickel Miller and Matt Butcher all played telling parts as the Greens hauled their way back from a trailing position.

In addition to the substitutes, Schumacher spoke of his pleasure at a first start since April for defender Brendan Galloway, who had an excellent game at left-back, and for the scorer of the opening goal, Mustapha Bunda, who has recovered from injury issues of his own, and completed all 90 minutes.

“The squad's strong at the moment,” said Schumacher. “I've left four really good players out of the squad today, and we very rarely do that because our squad isn't the biggest, but everyone's kind of healthy and fit. It's only Saxon Earley who's not available, so those four lads who trained today, that shows the strength of the squad, because they're all really good players.

“Having Brendan back is important. I felt today was the right call to get him in because of how direct Stoke are. They go back to front quite a lot. They're really good from set pieces. Brendan gives us a bit more height.

“I'm buzzing for Brendan. It's been a long time out. It's his first start since April, so I’m pleased for him.

“Mickel's only trained a few days, but we felt the last 15 or 20 minutes he might give us a bit of freshness and a bit of speed, which is what he did.

“Mustapha scored another good goal. I felt his whole round performance was okay; a bit up and down. Some really good things, some things he can tidy up, but getting him another goal here at Home Park, he should feel a bit more confident as well.

“To come back from behind is so important. It's going to happen again throughout the season. We were brilliant last year at that, and one of the main reasons was for that was because the subs made a huge impact - and they did that today. All five lads that came on a pitch were excellent.”

The win means that Argyle have collected six points from a possible nine since the most recent international window. A win the previous Saturday against Sunderland was followed by a 1-0 defeat at Coventry City in midweek, with a contentious goal the difference in that game.

For Schumacher, this means a hugely positive week as Argyle continue their season-long ambition of staying in the division.

He said: “Four points from three games [would have been] good. It's what we need when we're in the part of the division that we're in, but to get six points is brilliant. It gives everybody more belief that we can keep competing in this division.

“We feel as though we probably should have seven points [this week]. It's a brilliant return. I think everyone knows how important any point is in the Championship. We felt hard done by on Tuesday night without playing brilliantly; a decision went against us. It was important that we got a result today. If we'd have got a point today, it still would have been a good week.

“I don't think the performances have been fantastic, not us at our very best, but at this stage of the season, in these conditions, it doesn't really matter.

“You've just got to play the game that's in front of you and try to win. Thankfully we've done that. It gives us confidence. We were so good at that last year, even if we had setbacks.

“We felt their goal today was a mistake from us. Gibbo [Lewis Gibson] just didn't know that Campbell was in behind him and it's an error, but we didn't let it faze us. I felt that we actually got better after they scored, but we started the game quite well and then they came into it.

“It was a bit scruffy. We were a bit sloppy with our passes and they had their press right, so we changed tactically, slightly. I felt after their goal, for 10 minutes, we looked like us and we scored a great goal to go in level at half-time.

“I felt that in the second half, we kept going; we were always on the front foot. I felt we were positive, finally something broke for us in the box and Adam stuck it away, so I’m delighted.

“It's a brilliant feeling when that happens. We knew it was pretty much the last kick of the game. When you're on the right side of that, it's brilliant.”