The Latics bounced back from their 6-0 home drubbing by Southampton to record a very useful 2-0 win at Plymouth Argyle on Saturday. Their performance was just what manager Paul Dickov ordered and his team played with character, confidence and passion to record their first double of the season. Both goals were scored in the second half by Dale Stephens and Oumare Tounkara but it was just as important for the teams confidence to keep a clean sheet.
Dickov said, “Plymouth is a difficult place to come to at the best of times, never mind on the back of a 6-0 defeat, and not many teams will go there and win. I had been saying all week I believe in these boys and they showed they have a lot of character. It was a good, professional performance and we were excellent all over the pitch. I keep telling the players if they continue to do the right things they will be rewarded and I am proud of them.”
“We had a good chat on Wednesday and said it was all about coming here and giving a professional performance. We were excellent all over the pitch. Not many teams will come here and win and we knew that. But we knew we had to keep our shape and keep doing the right things. We freshened it up a little bit and gave ourselves a little bit more energy. We knew our chances would come.”
“We played a lot of good stuff in the second half. Chris Taylor has done ever so well playing down the middle, but we felt that with him out wide here, he could get at the full-back. We wanted him to get at the full-back every time he got the ball, because we know that Chris has got the ability to set up goals. It is great to see midfielders coming into the box and putting it away. We have been saying to Oumare, ‘you work as hard as you can and keep doing the right things and you will get your rewards’. We want him to be a bit more alive in the box — sometimes when he has chances, he acts as they arrive whereas we want him on his toes a bit more. He did that here and got his rewards for a hard-working performance. If we can have a good base and put on a professional performance then we have got the players in the team who can win us games.”
“We know what Warren Feeney can do - not many months ago he led the line by himself for Northern Ireland against Italy - it has just taken a little longer for him to settle in than we hoped. It was a mature, experienced performance from him. Feens was fantastic. It has not gone as well as he would have expected for him, but we believe in him. He has had disruptions, going away with Northern Ireland and injuries, and this, that and the other thing. We have been looking to get him back in for a while. He has looked sharp in training and is back up to full fitness now. He has worked hard and if you do that for me in training you will get a chance.”
Before the end of the game, Plymouth's fans streamed for the exits while the 179 travelling away fans stayed on to the final whistle to salute their heroes. Plymouth manager Peter Reid commented, “We played some decent stuff, but goals change games and there were a couple of good chances which we didn’t stick away. The lads have put in a good shift, but we got caught cold at the beginning of the second half and unfortunately we conceded.”