Wayne Rooney rued a “sucker punch” as Plymouth slipped to 23rd in the Championship with a 2-1 loss to Swansea.
Jay Fulton and Liam Cullen put the Swans 2-0 ahead after an hour and despite a late reply from Mustapha Bundu, Argyle suffered a third defeat in a row.
Rooney said: “I am frustrated and disappointed.
“I felt we were the better team in the first half and after the first 10 minutes we played some good football.
“Then we get hit by a sucker punch, the goal.
“Second half they put us on the back foot. For their second goal we had three players around the ball but don’t stop the cross coming in.
“When we got the goal back there was some momentum there and we looked as though we might go on and score (again).
“We tried to cause problems for them, we kept pushing and trying to get something out of the game. We can’t really keep relying on getting late goals.
“I thought we did well to nullify (Matt) Grimes who is their main threat, because he’s a really good player.
“We know we are conceding too many goals – a lack of concentration and a bit of naivety has cost us.
“The first goal coming just before half-time makes it difficult for us. Going two down makes it really difficult for us.
“Once you get that first goal you have something to hold on to.
“There’s no denying we know we are going through a difficult time. We are without four key players but tonight was an improvement on the last two results.”
While that may be true after losing 6-1 to Norwich and 4-0 to Bristol City, the pressure remains on Rooney.
Swansea boss Luke Williams, by contrast, was delighted as his side moved up to ninth.
He said: “We are still a work in progress and we can see we are creating better chances as we go on.
“We made some good openings in the game. I just think it ebbed and flowed and we lost control a few times and we had to show another side to our game.
“We had to be tough at times. Of course the last 15 minutes is really tough, like a basketball match. I think overall we deserved the victory.
“We created some really good openings early on which didn’t amount to a chance, as well as a few good chances, but you don’t deserve it if you don’t take those chances when they come.
“We stuttered a bit and we lost a bit of control. Over the 90 minutes I thought we were just about value for victory.
“It was a really good delivery from Josh Tymon for the first goal, it was ferocious, really difficult to deal with and that’s why it pops out for Jay Fulton and he was so calm.
“You could snatch at this one so easily or you could hit bodies that are in the way but he tucked it away really calmly.
“It was really good wide play from Myles Peart-Harris for the second because he delivers it brilliantly well and Liam Cullen can play like a 10 or an out-and-out nine, which is really fortunate for me, and he finished like a proper nine.”
