Plymouth Argyle manager Ryan Lowe held mixed emotions in Saturday’s post-match press conference.

Lowe said: “I thought the performance of our lads was very, very good. I am disappointed obviously not to get a goal and take a point, at least.”

  • How the game played out

The Pilgrims left the KCOM Stadium empty handed, suffering a 1-0 defeat to Hull City who made it four wins from four.

Argyle were discouraging in the first half. Keane Lewis-Potter caught the defence sleeping early on and his left-wing cross was met with a well struck volley from Hakeeb Adelakun, putting the hosts ahead after 10 minutes.

A much-improved showing from Argyle in the second half saw them pin the hosts back for long periods, desperate for an equaliser. This was something that impressed Lowe, who spoke to the press after the game.

“They had their attitude of ‘never say never’, and that is what pleases me the most.

“To go toe-to-toe with a good side in Hull, who have just been relegated from the Championship, shows our intentions, and shows where we have come.

“If you were here as a neutral and you did not know your football, you would probably look at us and think we were the team that got relegated from the championship.

“You see teams that will come here and concede a goal in the first 10 minutes, and they will just drop their heads and it could be three, four, five. Our lads are never going to do that under me. We need to respect the football club and what we are about.”

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The Tigers dug their claws in for most of the second half, showing why they have yet to concede in League One. Lowe was disappointed that the Pilgrims couldn’t break through Grant McCann’s side to get the all-important equaliser.

“It was not for the lack of trying.

“All my players have done what I have asked them to do apart from put the ball in the back of the net and keep it out.

“We had so many passages of play, and so many penalty box entries, we just did not have that final bit. They put bodies on the line, it shows why they have not conceded any goals.

“We need to keep the back door shut. Once we do that, we will start scoring goals.”

  • Lessons learnt

The Argyle manager reaffirmed that his side need to be leaving these games with points on the board from now on.

“It is tough isn’t it, because I am disappointed that we did not get anything out of the game, but I am happy and pleased with the performance.

“We will always have that desire and commitment as long as I am here – I will drum it into them. To be fair to every single one of them in there, they are gutted, disappointed, but they know if they keep performing like that, they will pick more points up.

“I have said, we are the new boys in the league, we are going to come up against it, we just need to find that little clinical edge – and once that comes, we will be fine.”

Argyle will look to bounce back on Tuesday with a win against League Two Cheltenham Town in the EFL Trophy.