New Plymouth boss Miron Muslic was satisfied to get off the mark after his first game in charge ended in a 1-1 draw against Oxford.
Argyle midfielder Rami Al Hajj’s second-half header cancelled out Will Vaulks’ thumping first-half opener for Oxford, whose substitute Siriki Dembele was denied twice by goalkeeper Dan Grimshaw in stoppage time.
Plymouth remain without a win in 12 league games and sit bottom of the Championship table, but Muslic was focusing on the positives after being welcomed by the fans at Home Park.
Muslic said: “If you can’t win, don’t lose. It is a point. We have only conceded one goal in the last three games.
Emotional
“It was very emotional when you see the reception. Now I know what it feels like to have a home game, I have nothing but respect for that so thank you very much Green Army, this will give us the boost and confidence we need. It is like having a 12th man.
“I can’t wait until Saturday and now I know what to expect. We will have more time to prepare for QPR, adapt and organise ourselves.”
Muslic believes his new players are already taking his ideas on board.
He added: “Oxford scored a beautiful goal, from 25 metres into the top of goal, it was a top finish.
“The message at half-time was ‘we are structured and organised and creating chances’. We had to continue with the defensive structure. The game was not full of highlights.
“We scored a beautiful goal. We didn’t have any more power to push for the second, we tried.
“The goal was beautiful. Our equaliser was the perfect example of how we want to play football.
“We will score many more goals like that in the coming months.”
Unbeaten in the Championship under Gary Rowett
Oxford were beaten by Exeter in the FA Cup at the weekend but remain unbeaten in the league under boss Gary Rowett.
Rowett said: “Exeter beat us fair and square, they were better than us. I had to prioritise this game. Tonight showed we needed that energy.
“I thought we started brightly and had a 10, 15-minute spell where we got into those pockets. They didn’t hurt us massively.
“It was almost about whether we could keep our concentration and we switched off for the goal.
“They didn’t create too many chances. With a new manager in place they are always going to play with a spirit.
“I am not disappointed with a point. We had some late chances and could have walked away with it.
“We have got a good group who want fight for each other.
“To see the game out like we did, I was really pleased.
“When you get the defensive side of the game right, the rest takes care of itself.
“We are unbeaten in five and in this division you pick up those points and they make massive points at the end of the season.”
READ MORE: Plymouth Argyle hit back against Oxford United to earn a point in Miron Muslic’s first game in charge
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