Tom Cleverley hails Alex Mitchell’s display in Plymouth’s win at AFC Wimbledon

Plymouth head coach Tom Cleverley praised Alex Mitchell as his side disposed of struggling AFC Wimbledon 3-1.

The 24-year-old defender opened the scoring at Plough Lane, with further strikes from Lorent Tolaj and Bim Pepple pushing the home side further into relegation trouble.

Despite an Alistair Smith equaliser, Cleverley felt the defender – and the rest of his side – were good value for their win.

He said: “Alex has been colossal for us since he’s been at the club, he’s somebody who does what you need to do in this league, which is to be better in both boxes.

“Only Lincoln have been better than us at set-plays, but I’m really pleased with him popping up to cap off a really fast start.

“I didn’t panic when they equalised, I’ve got a real trust in our players to create at the minute.

“It was an excellent start to the game, we put them on the back foot. When you’ve got strikers who can turn draws into wins, it’s a real big asset.

“With that moment of magic from Tolaj, you can see that we’ve got that. And our third goal impressed me because that’s what we talked about at half-time.”

It looked to be a perfect day ahead for the visitors when Mitchell netted at the far post following an assist from Malachi Boateng after five minutes.

Yet it almost proved to be a game of missed opportunities for Plymouth when Caleb Wilson should have doubled the lead for the visitors five minutes after the break.

The hosts equalised a minute later with their first goal since the March 21 with a Smith tap-in following a James Tilley cross.

Argyle reasserted themselves after Wilson hit the crossbar after 55 minutes and Tolaj curled in from the edge of the box in 67th minute.

Then Owen Dale found Pepple in space, sending Plymouth home with three points and the Dons still in relegation trouble.

The Plough Lane outfit now have a two-point advantage, and manager Johnnie Jackson was left to rue a depleted side.

He said: “We’ve got a young lad on the bench who is just out of the youth team, Riley Horan, who has just been recalled from Walton and Hersham.

“We’re pushing lads on to the pitch who are playing with injuries and we need them to get through.

“The changes you can make to impact the game are so limited, really. We’re relying on young lads, there’s loads going against us.

“But they’re giving it everything, they’re in a place where they don’t stop even though it’s tough out there for them.

“Their second goal sums it up, that bit of quality. That goal from Tolaj was out of the ordinary to do that.”