Plymouth boss Miron Muslic has not given up hope of avoiding relegation from the Championship following Argyle’s surprise 2-1 home win over Norwich.
Two Ryan Hardie goals were enough to secure Argyle’s victory despite another goal for in-form City striker Josh Sargent in the opening minute of the second half and Hardie making a late goal-line clearance.
Argyle are still bottom, four points from safety with six games to play.
Muslic said: “Finally we rewarded ourselves. We knew the importance of the game. We just had to win.
“It’s all about the sacrifice, giving it our all and we have a chance.
“We have spoken about momentum a lot in these last few weeks and the first goal gave us that.
“The Green Army just jumped on it, then we got a second goal and the first half was probably the best 45 we have played in the past few weeks.
“Remember I told you all about missing Ryan Hardie for five games.
“We missed him for so many games as he is a reliable goal scorer, a source of goals.
“He only needs half a chance and get him in those positions, he can get you goals. He is clinical.
“Just 30 seconds after the start of the second half we conceded a goal.
“Then the pressure was on. The pressure was massive and that’s why I am proud of the team.
“We managed to keep Norwich away from our goal.
“It’s a step forward for us.
“Everything feels a little bit better after a win.
“Now we move on to Wednesday with a little more hope.”
Norwich boss Johannes Hoff Thorup said: “We have to do better.
“It’s too easy to score against us. This cannot continue.
“The first 20 minutes we completely killed the momentum of the game and then they score.
“A couple of minutes after a throw in our own half leads to another goal to them.
“Then the momentum, after two goals, completely swings.”
Asked if he thought Hardie’s opener was offside, the Canaries boss said: “I cannot see it from my view, I can see a line of defence that have to do better.
“Defensively – offside or onside – we have to do better.
“I was not satisfied with our position on the ball.
“When we lost the ball we were a little bit loose.
“I thought our positions on the ball in the second half were much better.
“We probably should have scored 10-15 minutes after the goal because we had shots on goal and won corners.
“The game became too open in the last 10 minutes, later in the game.
“There will be tough decisions to be made after this season.
“The way going forward for us is to be an offensive team.
“We talk about our league position but we still have the top scorer in the league (Borja Sainz) and Josh is third top scorer.”
