Wayne Rooney admits Plymouth Argyle had to dig in for Portsmouth win

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.

"I was trying to get messages on for us to be more direct and land on second balls, and I thought we did that better second half. Then we get the goal through Michael towards the end. It wasn't the prettiest of games by any means but the result was the most important thing."

Obafemi was a 70th minute substitute for Gray, while Rooney had earlier sent on Mustapha Bundu and Callum Wright for Freddie Issaka and Rami Al Hajj and both of them gave the team some attacking impetus.

Ultimately, it was Obafemi who grabbed the headlines with the second goal of his loan spell from Burnley. After a long clearance from goalkeeper Dan Grimshaw, the striker used his strength to knock Portsmouth captain Regan Poole off the ball inside the box before firing low into the net.

Rooney said: "I thought it was a really good goal. He has used his body well to ease the centre-back out and then it's a great finish. We didn't create that many chances tonight but I thought the subs did really well - all of them - when they came on.

"Moose (Bundu) did well, Callum calmed it down a little bit for us in getting hold of the ball and getting in some good positions, and then obviously Michael got the goal. I was really pleased for the lads who came on, and especially Michael."

Injury-hit Argyle had seven players out injured, with captain Joe Edwards undergoing a successful operation on his hamstring injury on the morning of he match, and there were rare starts for defensive duo Julio Pleguezuelo and Matty Sorinola.

Rooney said: "It's first clean sheet of the season, it seems crazy to say after so many games. If you look at the back four we had out tonight, Matty hasn't played many games and Pleggy has played many games.

"We have had to dig in at times tonight, and of course the injuries we have picked up are not ideal. It's important the lads who come into the team are ready.

"I thought, in particular, Matty and Pleggy did well tonight because two games in four days for them two after not playing much football, they had to dig in."

Rooney added: "Portsmouth are an aggressive team. They go man for man and try to make it difficult for you. There was little things throughout the game which make a big difference.

"It was a very difficult task for Andre. He's battling with the centre-backs but I think Portsmouth fatigued towards the end. They only made the one change (from the 1-1 draw away to Hull City on Saturday). The decision on my starting line-up against Leeds only pays off if you win the next game, so I think it was the right decision I made."

Argyle's first clean sheet of the season came after Conor Hazard started the first four games before suffering an ankle ligament injury and Grimshaw has now played 10 times since then.

Rooney said: "We know we have got a really good goalkeeper. I have felt for him because he has had some really good performances and the goals we have conceded there has been nothing much he could do on a lot of them.

"I think it's really important for any goalkeeper to try to keep clean sheets, and he gets an assist as well. The first thing I said to him was about the clean sheet and he mentioned the assist! That's the way the game is nowadays."

Argyle now have a record of four wins, two draws and just one defeat from seven home league games this season, compared to a single point from the same number of matches on the road.

Rooney said: "If we can fix our away form then we put ourselves in a really good place. At this point of the season we have been relying on our home form but we need to change that, and quickly."

Another of the injured Argyle players was midfielder Adam Randell who missed his second successive match due to a thigh problem, but the Pilgrims' boss believes he has a good chance of being fit for the trip to Derby County on Saturday. Rooney said: "He should be fine, we hope. He tried a little bit yesterday and it wasn't right so he wasn't really in contention for tonight."

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