Jones happy to win ugly

Last updated : 28 December 2008 By Michael Morris

"Jay keeps coming up with the goods and you can't fault him," said Dave Jones about match winner Jay Bothroyd. "Jay kept plugging away as he was battered from pillar to post.

"In the past he may have given up. He has worked hard on his game and got his rewards again with a great strike.

"I felt the goal was coming, it was about just when it was going to come. We had chances early on to make our job easier. We didn't take that and it was always going to to be a patience job to break Plymouth down.

"Sometimes you have to dig in and win ugly. Both sides rode their luck at times but you cannot question our belief."

Argyle boss Paul Sturrock was left frustrated.

"It was a kick in the teeth to give a goal away so late. I feel sorry for the lads as they gave everything.

"We had chances to win it which makes it even the more disappointing. I've told the players to keep their heads up as we will play worse and win.

"I made a few changes to freshen things up and I thought we looked stronger as the game wore on. If we had got our noses in front I think the win would could have been ours as we stifled them for long periods. The goal was a killer for us as we had little time to press forward to level."

On the sending off in injury time of David McNamee (who will now miss next weels FA Cup tie against Arsenal)

"It's a killer," said Argyle manager Paul Sturrock, "absolutely soul-destroying for the boy, but that's football. He'll have to grin and bear it. He hasn't carried much luck so far in his career.

"I'd have much preferred it if he'd let the player run through to score, in the light of what's going to happen for next week, but there might have been be two or three minutes left, we might have managed to get an equaliser.

"I'm very comfortable with him. I think that he's going to be a quality player for us once he gets in the groove."