'A battle' - Plymouth Argyle boss bemoans referee and 'setbacks' as Sheffield Wednesday steal top spot

Wednesday leapfrogged Plymouth on Saturday afternoon after Callum Paterson’s goal gave them a 1-0 win at Hillsborough, but the tie was affected by the fact that the visitors lost both Dan Scarr and Michael Cooper early in the game – two players who have been key to their success.

Their manager praised the Pilgrims for their efforts, but ultimately said it ‘wasn’t meant to be’ at S6.

“It was a good game,” Schumacher told the club's website. “Two good teams, strong teams. It was a battle. It wasn't a free-flowing game of football, which we didn't really expect it to be, the way Sheffield Wednesday play. We had a little setback with the goal and two other setbacks in losing two key players.

“I am proud of the players though because we could have crumbled and fell apart today, but we pushed them all away and it felt that in the second half we were probably the better team, created some good chances or half chances but it just wasn't meant to be today.

“There are ways to lose a game and we're not going to go unbeaten away from home. It’s our first defeat since August. There's always going to be a time where we didn’t manage to score an equaliser or produce a moment of quality. But I'm pleased with the way we did lose. We didn't fall apart; we kept going.

“We threw everything that we had at them. The game was scrappy, and Sheffield Wednesday showed their experience in the second half, killed it off a little bit, didn't let it allow us to get into a rhythm.

MORE: Tempers flare as Wednesday scrap their way to the top of with Plymouth win

“We could have done better with the early goal, but the lads showed great character because many other teams would crumble under that sort of pressure in the atmosphere that the game was played in today.”

But league position aside, it's a game that could come at a bigger cost than just the defeat after Cooper’s injury especially, and the Pilgrims boss wasn’t pleased with some of the refereeing in the encounter.

"I don't want to speculate,” he said when asked about his number on. “He said it didn't feel good when he went up and he landed on it. He's not moving too good now in the dressing room… Their player challenged him - I thought it was a foul on him. His momentum took him into Michael and that's what Joe Edwards got booked for.

"One of their other players did something similar to Callum a few minutes later. I just felt the referee missed a few of them calls today. We didn't get the rub of the green on a few decisions."

Wednesday now turn their attentions to Fleetwood Town and the FA Cup on Tuesday night before travelling to third-placed Ipswich Town at the weekend in another big encounter in League One.

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