Northampton frustrates Wilder

Northampton manager Chris Wilder was left fuming after his side's display which cost them all three points against Plymouth.

The Pilgrims survived a late rally to secure a 3-2 victory at Sixfields and maintain their promotion charge while Cobblers will be looking over their shoulder. Argyle looked to have the points comfortably in the bag after establishing a 3-0 lead just past the hour mark. First-half goals from Peter Hartley, with his fourth of the campaign, and Andy Kellett put the Pilgrims in control at the break. Lewis Alessandra added a third goal in the second half with his seventh goal of the season but late goals from substitute Ivan Toney and a stunner from Stewart Murdoch set up a tense finish. Wilder said: "It was a really disappointing day for us and the last few minutes of the game have papered over the cracks. "I selected an attacking side but I might as well have said to the players go and start the game at 1-0 down. We wanted to get off to a positive start and get on the front foot but the first goal is a free header from a defender and my players didn't take responsibility. "We practice defending set-pieces in training but some players haven't got the mental strength to do the job on a Saturday. I've never been more furious about an opening period of a game than I was today and that's in more than 500 games as a manager. "I want us to be organised, positive and disciplined but the players must be bored with me talking about what we should have done. For the second goal their player has skipped through the challenges too easily and that's unacceptable. "It was an open game and we had opportunities but we have to be more positive and have more conviction in those areas because we had as many chances as they did. "We can forget the play-offs for now because that's ten defeats before Christmas and now we need to concentrate on getting some points. There is a lot more work to be done here than I first thought there was, I will sort it out but it will take me a lot longer. "I take responsibility for some of the players I've brought in here, not all of them have worked out and you get judged by your signings." After seeing Argyle move up a place in the play-offs, assistant manager Paul Wotton said: "It was a dream start for us with Peter Hartley's header and Andy Kellett's goal will be one of the goals of the season. "We thought we could play better at half-time, we wanted them to keep moving the ball and play simple and we knew that a clean sheet would win us the game. "But it was a good job Lewis Alessandra scored the third one because we knew we'd be up against a big strong Northampton team in this game. "We had to see out a lot of crosses and long throws and we dealt with them very well but we weren't happy with the first goal. But you can't always keep clean sheets and we've got the win the end so it's three valuable points for us. "At 3-0 up you should never be thinking it's game over and fair play to Northampton, they made a game of it. Injury-time was a bit of a struggle and it's a concentration thing but the bottom line is we've won away from home and it's a good three points for us."