He may not find much sympathy among fans who trekked to Home Park, but Andy Awford has at least defended himself over the Pompey line-up and formation seen in one of the worst displays of the season.

Plymouth were three up with the game won inside half an hour and many supporters questioned why the manager changed the formation to 4-1-4-1 and chose to field Nick Awford and Jack Whatmough in midfield.

Awford snr told The News: ‘The thinking behind the shape was — with Plymouth playing 3-5-2 — we wanted 3v3 in the middle of the park and felt we could get Nicky Shorey and Alex Wynter out down the sides and double up, which on lots of occasions we did.

‘With the players available we felt that was the best way to go. I don’t think the system cost us, I really don’t. I just think in both boxes we weren’t good enough. We had Jack (Whatmough) and Nick (Awford) in there and they are good footballers in their own right.

‘Nick is the type of player, in our opinion, who can get around the pitch and do the horrible side of the game quite well, which we’ve seen in the past at Yeovil, Northampton at home and away at Stoke. He deserved his opportunity and did alright but the bigger picture is the team performance in both boxes wasn’t quite good enough.

‘I had no qualms about putting any of the young lads in, as you have seen, and next week, if we feel it is the right thing to do, we will do it. Jack in midfield is something we have looked at. He gives you height, gives you a bit of stature.

‘He appeared in the last reserve game and has trained very well. We chose not to pick Nigel (Atangana). He is a very good footballer who has come into it from non-league, as we all know. But we just wanted to be as solid as we possibly could with three midfield players in there and do the horrible side of the game and for large periods I think they did.'

There's little time to reflect or work on different methods in training - Pompey are back in action, and in front of the TV cameras again, in their FA Cup replay on Wednesday night.

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