Plymouth Argyle’s loss against Wigan Athletic on Saturday made it three successive defeats in their last seven days - a far cry from their early season dominance in League One.

First half goals from Latics’ forward Will Keane and Argyle talisman Danny Mayor looked to have earnt both sides a point on the South Coast, though, the home team were caught napping at the death and were punished by Callum Lang.

Before this week, Ryan Lowe’s side were 16 unbeaten in the league – topping the table as a result.

After Saturday’s defeat, however, they now sit fourth in their division – only three points clear of seventh place.

With Argyle in free fall and still in the thick of their toughest spell of fixtures, now is the time for the Pilgrims’ boss to test his managerial mettle.

  • “The week has not been great to us”

Picking up no points from a potential nine is not the form of promotion candidates and it seems this period has taken a toll on Lowe and his side.

“Losing another game is not ideal,” said a downbeat Lowe; “it has been a tough week for us, the lads are on the floor in there [the Pilgrims’ dressing room].

It was not all doom and gloom from the manager, though, who gave credit where it was due.

Lowe continued: “I thought the lads were good in spells. We conceded a sloppy goal in the first half and then scored a fantastic goal.

“I think you have to give the opposition teams a lot of credit, Wigan are a good team.”

  • “We fell asleep”

Wigan’s injury time winner came seven seconds after Argyle had possession in the Latics’ half.

Two passes managed to carve open the Pilgrims’ backline, which saw Lang beat defender Dan Scarr for pace before slotting calmly past Mike Cooper.

The Argyle boss questioned whether his side should have been in that position in the first place – with a draw seemingly the foregone conclusion for both sides.

Lowe said: “We tried to pass out, did not look after the ball and then we gave a lethal striker in Callum Lang an opportunity one-on-one with the keeper to beat and he did.

“While we still do the right things [on the pitch], there is a time and a place where you can play out [from the back]. Could we have just got everyone up the pitch at 90 minutes and kicked it up the pitch and been a bit more game savvy?

“There is a lot of experience in the group but there are still a lot of youngsters in there also. We have got to make sure that we see these types of situations out [in the future].”

  • “We probably have got a bit carried away with ourselves and where we can be”

The South Coast side have found themselves at the summit of League One of late, with Lowe picking up October’s Manager of the Month award in the division.

However, it seems that successive losses against their fellow promotion rivals has brought the boss back down to reality.

Lowe said: “We are still in a fantastic position, I know I cannot keep saying this forever, and I will not – I promise. What I can say is we are on 36 points.

“What we have got to do now is level it out and address it in training. We will get the players in to see the targets and objectives for this season.

“We know what they are, we are not far off them after 20 odd games. I think one more win takes us on a clear pathway of where we are trying to get to.”

  • “What we have got to do is end it [Plymouth’s losing streak] sooner rather than later”

Argyle will have to wait a week before their next fixture and 10 days before they can put things right in the league.

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However, this break will be essential to Lowe and his squad who will prepare for a return of winning ways in their FA Cup clash against Rochdale this Sunday.

The Second Round tie will be shown live on ITV, with a 12:15pm kick-off time.