Pilgrims slump to bottom of table after a fourth league loss on bounce

PLYMOUTH Argyle slumped to the bottom of the League One table after a fourth consecutive league defeat, and their fifth in all competitions, on Saturday.

- By CHRIS ERRINGTON

The Pilgrims were well-beaten 3-1 by Huddersfield Town at the Accu Stadium, resulting in more boos from the travelling Green Army directed at head coach Tom Cleverley and his low-on-confidence players after the final whistle.

It was goalless until the 45th minute when a period of sustained Huddersfield pressure led to them taking the lead with a close range finish from Bojan Radulovic.

With no sign of Argyle fightback in the second half, Dion Charles put the Terriers further ahead in the 70th minute and substitute Cameron Ashia added a late third before Lorent Tolaj replied for the well-beaten Pilgrims in the closing stages.

Argyle's starting lineup against Huddersfield showed four changes from the 2-0 Emirates FA Cup first round defeat at Wycombe Wanderers.

There were call-ups for Malachi Boateng, Brendan Galloway, Law McCabe and Owen Oseni, with the quartet of Alex Mitchell, Bali Mumba, Jamie Paterson and Caleb Roberts dropping down to the bench.

New signing Joe Ralls was not in the matchday squad after joining Argyle as a free agent on a short term contract on Wednesday, but 19-year-old Joe Hatch was named among the substitutes after his recall from a loan spell at Southern League club Taunton Town.

Goalkeeper Conor Hazard was the captain for Argyle, who despite their recent dire away performances and results still had the support of a 1,200-strong travelling Green Army.

Former Pilgrims' wing-back Mickel Miller made just his third league start of the season for Huddersfield, who, like Argyle, have been hard hit by injuries this term.

Cleverley had put his players through a training session at Leeds United's Thorp Arch training ground on Friday after they travelled from Plymouth the day before so their preparation had been as good as possible for the long trip to West Yorkshire.