lose again to forget

Ten-man Argyle on another night

- By CHRIS ERRINGTON

THE pain goes on for struggling Plymouth Argyle as they played virtually all of their Vertu Trophy tie against Bristol Rovers at the Memorial Stadium with only 10 men and conceded a last-gasp goal to be beaten 1-0.

It was in the fourth and final minute of added time at the end of the second half that Argyle goalkeeper Luca Ashby-Hammond went to catch a corner but dropped the ball and Kamil Conteh was there to touch it over the line.

It meant a sixth successive defeat for Argyle in all competitions and came after Rovers had hardly troubled Ashby-Hammond throughout the game.

Rovers finished top of Southern Group B as a result of their victory and will be guaranteed a home tie in the round of 32 draw, which will take place on Thursday afternoon, while runners-up Argyle will have to play away from home.

Argyle had defender Kornel Szucs sent off inside the opening 90 seconds of the cup tie but, despite that, a clean sheet seemed to be on the cards until Rovers were gifted their winning goal.

Tom Cleverley and his Pilgrims' squad now have a break before they have a hugely important bottom-of-the-table League One clash away to Port Vale on Saturday week, November 22.

The pressure will then be on to stop the losing run that Argyle are on and start to build some much needed confidence.

Argyle top scorer Lorent Tolaj wore the captain's armband against Rovers with a number of the Pilgrims' squad either injured or away on international duty.

Two of Tolaj's eight goals for Argyle this season came in their first Vertu Trophy group game, the 2-0 win against Cheltenham Town at Home Park in September.

There were five changes to the Pilgrims' side from the 3-1 League One defeat at Huddersfield Town, with starts for Ashby-Hammond, Bali Mumba, Alex Mitchell, Caleb Roberts and Tegan Finn.