Wilder has no complaints after Plymouth defeat

Chris Wilder cut a frustrated figure on the touchline while watching his side's defeat to Plymouth. Picture by Sharon Lucey

There was little between the two sides for much of a tight first half, but a mistake from the returning Ryan Watson gifted Plymouth a half-time lead, which ultimately proved decisive.

The second half was largely one-way traffic as Plymouth created a number of chances before finally securing victory through Jake Jervis’ improvised finish from a corner.

And to compound a dismal afternoon for the hosts, Josh Lelan was sent off in injury-time for a second bookable offence, before the full-time whistle confirmed Plymouth’s fifth straight win over the Cobblers.

Wilder said afterwards: “They deserved to win it, from goalkeeper to attack, Plymouth were the better side throughout on the day.

“It was a nothing game up until the first goal and that came from an error. But after that we didn’t deserve to get anything from the game.

“We changed the shape three of four times but they sat deeper and always looked a threat on the counter-attack.

“The most disappointing thing for me was that my players seemed to lose belief after going behind. We didn’t show enough quality on the ball and it wasn’t up to the standard that I know these players can produce.

“The game became stretched, we didn’t work hard enough off the ball and didn’t move the ball quick enough when we had possession.

“The opposition, from the goalkeeper to the centre forward to the subs, were better than us and a lot better than us on the day and we’ve well and truly been beaten.

“We made a bad error and they capitalised on it and we then lost a lot of belief. They picked up all the first and second balls. I’ve got absolutely no complaints.”

Wilder was particularly frustrated with how his side appeared to abandon their passing principles in the second half and instead resort to long balls as they sought a way back into the game.

He added: “We play a certain way but it all seemed to go out of the window today and when you play in a way that’s foreign and not natural to you, you’re going to come unstuck.

“We’ve got some positive players but our quality from back to front was really poor and our work off the ball wasn’t very good and when we got on the ball, the quality wasn’t up to the standard that these players have shown.

“If we had got something from the game it wouldn’t have been deserved.”