Tom Cleverley praises ‘outstanding’ first-half display as Plymouth win at Wigan

Tom Cleverley felt his Plymouth side did all the hard work during the first half as they cruised to a 3-0 victory at League One strugglers Wigan.

Two quick-fire Aribim Pepple goals shortly before the interval gave the visitors control of the game that they never looked in danger of relinquishing.

Pepple struck in the 38th minute after the home defence failed to deal with a free-kick and within two minutes Malachy Boateng teed him up for a second.

Plymouth were fortunate not to concede a penalty midway through the second half when Joe Taylor’s goalbound shot struck a defender’s hand and they took full advantage with Caleb Watts scoring the third goal with 19 minutes remaining.

Wigan’s night was summed up in the closing stages when Taylor’s strike came back off the crossbar.

Argyle boss Cleverley said: “I thought we were outstanding this evening, especially in the first half, when we all but put the game to bed.

“It looked like we weren’t going to take advantage of our field position and quality when we got in their half.

“But another set-piece goal opened the scoring, and I thought the second goal was one of the best we’ve scored all season.

“I felt we were really good value for our two-goal lead, and in the second half it was all about managing bodies, even though we had another gear.

“We maybe got a bit lucky with the penalty decision, but I don’t think anyone could argue that the best team won the game.

“Wigan have been in great form since Gary (Caldwell) has been here, and we were very respectful of that.

“We knew the challenge we were up against, with them picking up seven points from his four games. So to put them to the sword like we did is very pleasing.”

Wigan head coach Caldwell admitted it was the worst performance since he returned to the club last month.

“It was a really frustrating game, and a poor performance overall,” he said.

“We didn’t get going in that first half. But as I just said to the players, we win together, and we lose together, and we all take responsibility.

“As the head coach, I pick the team, and we have to get back to the drawing board.

“We knew this game was going to be difficult, and it’s a bump in the road that we have to recover from quickly, because we are back here on Saturday (against Bradford).

“We need to look in the mirror, learn from the game, and come back stronger and ready to win a game of football on Saturday.”

Caldwell refused to blame the result – and performance – on speculation in the lead-up to the game that Wigan’s owners are looking to sell to the club.

“I can blame the referee for not giving a penalty, but I can’t blame (the speculation) for losing the game,” he said. “No, it’s got nothing to do with the result or the performance.”