Argyle keep sliding following a fifth straight loss at home

RELEGATION - THREATENED Plymouth Argyle’s miserable run of results at Home Park continued with a 1-0 defeat by mid-table Bristol City.

- CHRIS ERRINGTON

The Pilgrims have now lost five successive home matches, all of them without scoring a goal, and it piled even more pressure on underfire head coach Ian Foster.

It is five points out of a possible 33 for Argyle, who made a very positive start against City and had the chances to have been ahead by the half-hour mark but, as has become a habit for them they could not make the most of them.

City made three half-time substitutions and took control of the game, with one of the players who was sent on, Nahki Wells, putting them ahead in the 57th minute.

Argyle did not carry the same attacking threat as they had done in the first half and their cause was not helped by the 78th minute dismissal of Alfie Devine for a second bookable offence.

Argyle dropped one place to 21st in the Championship, a point and a place above the relegation zone, and now face an absolutely vital away game against bottom-of-the-table Rotherham United on Friday night.

Bali Mumba returned after a twomatch suspension as one of three changes to the Argyle team which started the 2-1 Good Friday defeat at Norwich City.

Lino Sousa, the 19-year-old loan signing from Aston Villa, and Adam Forshaw were also brought into the team by Foster, with the trio of Brendan Galloway, Mickel Miller and Adam Randell dropping down to the substitutes’ bench.

Those changes meant a change of formation for Argyle to 4-2-3-1, with Lewis Gibson and Ashley Phillips in central defence flanked by Matty Sorinola on the right and Sousa on the left.

Forshaw and captain Jordan Houghton were in deep midfield roles, with the trio of Morgan Whittaker, Alfie Devine and Mumba providing support for striker Ryan Hardie.