Wayne Rooney delivers clear response over his Plymouth Argyle position

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Wayne Rooney believes he can turn around bottom-of-the-table Plymouth Argyle's fortunes in the Championship but knows his side need to start picking up better results amid increasing criticism of his leadership..

Rooney witnessed another dismal away-day display from the struggling Pilgrims as they lost 4-0 away to Coventry City and admitted after the game it was important to get their player recruitment right in the forthcoming January transfer window to give them the best chance of escaping relegation trouble.

Argyle's already lengthy injury list was added to when Mustapha Bundu went off with a hamstring issue late in the first half against Coventry and the substitute who replaced him, Callum Wright, was sent-off in the 87th minute and will start a three-match suspension when the Pilgrims travel to Oxford United on Sunday.

The one plus that Rooney took from the game against Coventry was the performance of 16-year-old academy product Tegan Finn, who played the whole match in very difficult circumstances given the dominance of the Sky Blues.

When Rooney was asked by Plymouth Live whether he was the right man to lead Argyle forward, he replied: "Yeah, I believe I am. I know how football works, I'm not stupid. You need to pick up results.

"The biggest frustration for me is, all season really, we look like two different teams at home and away. So psychologically is there an issue? It's something we are looking at and trying to help with it.

"And of course, I have said this all season, we need players coming in. I think that's clear. The one plus I feel today was young Tegan. I thought he had a couple of good moments in the game.

"This will help him moving forward with his own career, getting 90 minutes in a tough situation. But, yeah, I'm sure the fans have questions, I'm sure a lot of people from the outside will and I will do my best to answer them."

On how he could turn things around for Argyle, Rooney said: "I think it's seeing what's available for the game Sunday (against Oxford), that's the first thing from my point of view, and making sure we get the recruitment right in January. That's big for us.

"We have to keep working. I have to keep believing in what we are doing to try to get out of the situation we are in.

"I think it's tough being any manager. When you go into any job as a coach you know the difficulties of it, you know the pressures of it, and that's just part of being a manager or a head coach. Of course, when you get results like we have today, or we have in previous away games, it becomes a lot more difficult."

On the importance of the January transfer window, Rooney said: "I think that's clear, we need bodies in, and some out as well. That's also a priority as well."

There were boos heard from the Green Army at the final whistle against Coventry and Rooney commented: "We have prepared well for the game. We have done everything we felt was right for the game.

"I know the fans have paid a lot of money, the ticket prices were quite high, and then to travel over this (Christmas) period to come and see the performance, especially first half, they have every right to be disappointed."

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