West Bromwich Albion (A) | Schumacher's Reaction

Argyle manager Steven Schumacher was pleased with his side as they showed two sides to their character in a 0-0 draw at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

In the first half, Argyle had the best of things, with Morgan Whittaker striking the post and Kaine Kesler-Hayden drawing a superb save from former loan Pilgrim Alex Palmer in an opening 45 minutes in which the expressed themselves.

After the interval, the home side got hold of the ball more, and put increased pressure on the travelling Greens, but Argyle limited Albion’s clear chances, and arguably had the best opportunity of the second period as Palmer again saved brilliantly, this time from substitute Mustapha Bundu.

Indeed, the introduction of Bundu and Luke Cundle, just after the hour mark, seemed to quell the resurgence of West Brom after the home team were second best in the first half.

The game saw the return to the Argyle first team of Michael Cooper, out for over eight months with a knee injury. With the help of the team in front of him, he emerged from his return with a clean sheet.

"I thought we played really well,” said Schumacher. “In the first half, I thought we played excellent football, created some good chances, got into brilliant areas. We could be a bit more clinical in those areas, if we're being picky, but overall, I think it's a brilliant performance.

“In the second half, we had to defend and show a different side to our game, which is what we spoke about in the international break. Credit to the players for taking on their messages.

“Any point is a good point in the Championship, especially on the road. I felt we were more than value for our point in the end, without a doubt.

“We played so well in the first half; so much so that West Brom had to change their shape after 25 minutes because we were getting in and we were causing them problems. That's credit to how well we played. Coming to big stadiums like this, with huge crowds, if you can get them quiet and get the uneasy, then that can affect the home team.

“In the second half, West Brom put us under a bit of pressure. They responded after half-time. I think when Luke [Cundle] and Mustapha [Bundu} came on, it settled us down again, got us back into the game. It was end to end and could have probably gone either way in the last few minutes, but I’m pleased for a clean sheet.

“I’m delighted for Coops to get that clean sheet; pleased for everyone for our efforts for the whole afternoon. It wasn’t just the back four, it was the midfield players helping on the sides, it was the strikers closing people down. I thought Lewis Gibson and Dan Scarr dealt with all of the long balls that went into the box; Gibbo on his return to the team was excellent.

“West Brom are a big side, but even with the size and the physicality that they've that they put in, we were competing, we were getting first contacts. If we didn't, we were bright enough to land on the second ball.

“We focused a lot in the last two weeks about our organisation out of possession and the areas of the pitch that we need to engage better in, but we also said let's not forget what we're doing really well - go and be brave, play with confidence and take the game to any opposition that we play.”

In the short term, Schumacher is pleased with well-deserved points at places such as West Brom, and prior to that Watford and Hull City. They are examples of Argyle stepping up to Sky Bet Championship football and matching opponents expected to be mixing it at the top end of the table.

While appreciative of the current situation, Schumacher envisages a near-future in which those points are converted into triple that number.

“I'm greedy,” he said. “I want to come away from these places and win, because that should be our ambition. We should be looking that far ahead. This is a great point for Argyle, coming to West Brom, but for us to improve and to get better, we need to come to a place like this and win - which we will if we keep playing like that.

“It proves again to the lads that they can do it. Every game is hard, and sometimes you're going to be on the wrong end of results, but it shows that we can compete at this level. The three [individual] points that we've got away from home are credible draws. The next bit, how we become a better team, is how do we turn those draws and battling performances into wins? How do we sneak it 1-0?

“We're learning. We're all getting better. Everyone's new and inexperienced in the Championship but we are learning about what we can do better.

“How we get better as a team moving forward is, when we are dominating them games and teams can't figure us out, then we've got to score. If we score and get ourselves ahead, then we can focus on our defensive work and try and be solid. It was a good day, but it would have been better if we'd have got three points.”