Sturrock pleased despite defeat

Sturrock now hopes his side play in the same vein against QPR on Saturday

Plymouth Argyle manager Paul Sturrock says he was delighted with the way his side played against high-flying Birmingham in Tuesday's 1-0 defeat.

Despite the loss, the Pilgrims were on top for much of the game but could not put away their chances.

"If we were going to lose a football game, that was the way to lose it," Sturrock told BBC Radio Devon.

"I thought the performance was a different class from everybody. They stood up and were counted tonight."

And Sturrock says his men were kicking themselves at not converting some of their chances:

We're going in the right direction. The disappointment for me is the two games before this one and now the pressure we've put ourselves under to perform on Saturday

Paul Sturrock

"We were in their faces all night and it was just one of those nights.

"There were numerous chances we should have done better with. it was exasperating, the boys are all gutted, but I'm proud of them."

But it was a third consecutive loss for Argyle and they have now taken just one point from a possible 15.

They host Queens Park Rangers on Saturday and Sturrock says his side are capable of getting back on track.

"We're going in the right direction. The disappointment for me is the two games before this one and now the pressure we've put ourselves under to perform on Saturday," he said.

"There was pressure tonight and the boys handled it and if they can just get themselves up for the challenge I'm sure we'll get a result on Saturday."