Depleted Argyle can't lay a glove on dominant Leeds

PLYMOUTH Argyle's away day woes plummeted to new depths on Saturday where they were totally outclassed by a merciless Leeds United at Elland Road, who cruised to a 3-0 win in the Championship.

Three goals in a disastrous eight-minute spell were the Pilgrims undoing, but on a chastening afternoon in West Yorkshire, the Pilgrims failed to register a shot on target, they didn't have one off target either and they failed to even win a corner with just 21 per-cent of the possession they had.

Few would have given Argyle a sniff of getting anything before the game anyway having scored just once and picked up one point on their travels so far this season - both of which coming in a 1-1 draw at Queens Park Rangers back in August but the truth is that they did not lay a glove on Daniel Farke's promotion-chasing teams.

In Argyle's defence, they were minus several key men and the chasm in quality between the two squads was all too evident. But the Pilgrims, who dropped into the relegation zone after the weekend's results, have no time to lick their wounds with bottom of the table Portsmouth heading to Home Park tomorrow night.

Pompey will be buoyed by a 1-1 draw at Hull City on Saturday, but this is now a game that Argyle and Rooney can ill-afford to lose. The Pilgrims head coach took the decision to leave virtually all of his attacking arsenal on the bench at Leeds, admitting afterwards that he had half an eye on that clash with Pompey.

From the moment the team sheets were released, Argyle's intentions were clear. Lining up in a 4-5-1 formation, it was in reality more like a 6-3-1 with Victor Palsson and Bali Mumba doubling up on the right and Matt Sorinola and Nathanael Ogbeta doing the same down the Argyle left. Kornel Szucs partnered Julio Pleguezuelo at centre back with Jordan Houghton and former Leeds man Adam Forshaw the double pivot in Argyle's midfield.