Wayne Rooney reacts to Carabao Cup exit

Argyle exited the Carabao Cup with a 2-0 defeat at Watford on Tuesday night, with Head Coach Wayne Rooney feeling like his side did not test their hosts enough.  

Watford continued a 100% season so far with a win earned by two Mileta Rajovic goals, one in each half, and were deserving of their victory. That said, Argyle had their moments, however it was generally a case of sound build-up play never truly getting to a stage where Watford were under serious threat.  

“I think it was probably a fair result in the end,” said Rooney after the game. “Throughout the game, there was some good stuff, but I felt, in the final third, we had to do a little bit more and put them under a bit more pressure, especially in the second half.   

“There were times we could have put the ball in the box, and we didn't, we turned that down. We played some nice football, but we need more than that. We have to be more aggressive, both in possession and out of possession.   

“We didn't do enough to put them under enough pressure. We weren't ruthless enough. We weren't clinical enough. We didn't test them enough in behind. We didn't put enough crosses in the box. It's something we need to look at to work on.”  

While frustrated not to have progressed in the Carabao Cup, the boss was quick to shift focus onto Saturday’s resumption of the Sky Bet Championship campaign, when the Pilgrims play Stoke City at Home Park.  

With Saturday in mind, Rooney made nine changes for the Watford game, and among the players coming into the starting 11 were Dan Grimshaw, making his Greens debut in goal, and Michael Obafemi, beginning a game for the first time having made a substitute appearance at Queens Park Rangers three days earlier.  

Grimshaw was at fault for Watford’s opener, but showed character to bounce back to make a string of saves which kept his new side in the game for a long time. 

“Unfortunately for goalkeepers, when you make a mistake, it normally ends up in a goal,” said Rooney. “I felt his reaction to that was really good, with the ball at his feet and the saves he made. His reaction to the first goal was very good, I was pleased with his overall performance. 

“[Obafemi] is a player who needs the minutes, so it was good to get 90 minutes in and he showed glimpses of what he can do. Moving forward, we've got two good players there to help us with the squad.   

“Importantly, a lot of players had some minutes tonight which they needed as well. It's important because when you don't play, you need to try to get that match fitness. 

“With this game tonight, we had one eye on Stoke as well. That's obviously such an important game for us now on Saturday. We're looking forward to getting back in front of the home fans, and hopefully we can go into the international break on a positive result.”