A positive result was all that mattered to Rooney

PILGRIMS END THEIR FOUR-MATCH WINLESS RUN BY BEATING POMPEY

- CHRIS ERRINGTON

WAYNE Rooney declared the result was the most important thing after Plymouth Argyle produced a well below-par Home Park performance but were still able to beat Portsmouth 1-0.

Rooney rested a number of players when the Pilgrims went to Championship high-fliers Leeds United on Saturday and lost 3-0 without having a single attempt on goal, so the pressure was on for them to pick up three points from their bottom-of-the-table clash against Portsmouth.

There were five changes to the team from the defeat at Elland Road, including a first start for striker Andre Gray. Argyle were edgy in the first half and lacked their usual attacking fluency as Portsmouth stifled them while creating some decent scoring chances for themselves but, crucially, they did not take any of them.

Rooney called on Argyle to be more direct after the interval, as opposed to their usual approach of playing out from the back, to try to get the ball higher up the pitch, and while they were still far from their best there was an improvement.

Substitute Michael Obafemi scored the only goal of the game in the 82nd minute as the Pilgrims ended a run of four league games without a win, while keeping their first clean sheet of the campaign at the 14th attempt.

Rooney said: “I’m delighted firstly with the three points. After the recent run of results the most important thing was we win the game, so I wasn’t really looking for a performance.

“We have seen some very good performances this season with the ball but tonight was more about getting the basics right. I thought first half we were overplaying at times and getting caught.