Solid defence the foundation to win against Brewers

HERE are the player ratings of Plymouth Herald's Argyle reporter Chris Errington from the Pilgrims' 3-0 League One win against Burton Albion at Home Park.

- By CHRIS ERRINGTON

Conor Hazard 6 - Very nearly gifted Burton an equaliser on the stroke of halftime when he had a poor touch of the ball after a back pass to him. Hazard had to make a good block from Fabio Tavares's shot to prevent the Burton striker making the score 1-1, which would have been a big blow for the Pilgrims at that stage of the game.

Joe Edwards 7 - The 35-year-old skipper made five successive starts for Argyle over the hectic 16-day Christmas and New Year schedule and his performance against Burton was the best of the lot as he looked assured and composed defensively.

Julio Pleguezuelo 7 - Returned to the team at the expense of Mathias Ross after sitting out the 1-1 New Year's Day draw at Stevenage as Argyle try to manage his workload after a recent swollen knee. It will have been very frustrating for the Spaniard, therefore, that he had to be taken off against Burton in the second half due to a calf injury, the extent of which is still to be determined.

Alex Mitchell 8 - Before he left the pitch in the 83rd minute with a sore hip, Mitchell had another strong game defensively, with one block of a shot from Burton captain Kegs Chauke early in the second half when it was still only 1-0 really standing out.