Mariner became head coach at Home Park on 10 December

Plymouth Argyle boss Paul Mariner says his team will fight to the bitter end in their battle to stave off relegation from the Championship.

The Pilgrims are still three points from safety despite beating Derby 1-0 at Home Park on Tuesday.

Mariner told BBC Radio Devon: "There's absolutely no doubt that we're going to fight until there's no breath left."

Since taking over as head coach in December, Mariner has led the Pilgrims to three wins out of six matches.

An 81st minute strike from returning striker Jamie Mackie was enough to see off Nigel Clough's side on Tuesday, giving Plymouth their first win of the calendar year.

"Nobody's turned us over yet," he said. "We're always in games, it's always close encounters with us but today [Tuesday] we came out on top."

"It was a difficult game but we're obviously happy to win, and I felt it was a fantastic, gritty, team performance.

"The league is a very competitive league and you've got some difference makers in each team, and our difference maker was Jamie."

On Saturday, Argyle face another crucial fixture, away at Sheffield Wednesday, who are also at the wrong end of the Championship table.

And with three points secured against Derby, Mariner is confident his charges are beginning to follow his example of never giving up.

"We try and give that as a bench mark for the players and they've responded remarkably well," he said.

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