West Bromwich Albion (H) | Foster's Reaction

It was a tough night at Home Park on Tuesday evening, as Argyle lacked their usual verve and sparkle at home, losing 3-0 to West Bromwich Albion.

At half-time, Argyle were level, the game was goalless and, although a bit of a stalemate, the Greens was more than in the game against a play-off chasing side.

After the break, though, Albion stepped things up, and like a 1,500-metre runner watching an opponent stride away, Argyle had no kick to give. By the time West Brom breasted the metaphorical tape, Cedric Kipre, Mickey Johnston and Tom Fellows had scored, and the game was well and truly over.

The defeat to Albion was the third home game against top-half opposition in seven days, following a slew of busy weeks, and the toll those fixtures have taken was visible.

Head Coach Ian Foster took the defeat, and its circumstances, on the chin, saying: “It's a really difficult night for us. We're obviously disappointed with the result.

“The second half looked like a really lethargic and tired performance. I get it and I understand why it was that.

“I can't criticise the players; I take responsibility. The players have done everything we've asked of them. It was just a really honest - but tired - performance tonight.

“We went with a team full of youth and energy to match them. We stuck with them; the first half performance was okay. Our structure was good, [although] we didn't pose the threat that we wanted to. We have to credit the opposition for their defensive shape and structure. We found it difficult at times to get through it.

“You could just see the way we played second half, too many negative passes, too many backward passes, setting the pressure on ourselves, and it made it difficult for us.

“When it goes 1-0, you have to force the issue a little bit. We tried and we huffed and puffed, but we just didn't have the energy. We didn't have the athleticism tonight that we normally show, but I get it. I totally get it. I felt for the players in the second half.

“They tried, they dug in, but [West Brom] are an excellent team and if you make mistakes against this level of opposition, you get punished.”

Argyle are back in action at Middlesbrough on Saturday, and Foster has stressed to need to analyse the West Brom game, then put it to one side, and focus on the trip to the North East to come.

“The big thing for us is togetherness,” said Foster. “As a group of players and staff, we have to stick together, we have to look after one another, we have to recover properly, we have to review the game and we have to plan accordingly for another exciting game for us at the weekend. 

“We look forward to it but, at the moment, the players need rest. They need recuperation; we need to look after them. We need to come off them a little bit, because they'll be hurting after that. They care. We all do.”