Plymouth’s win gives Cleverley an all-time feeling

Image source, ShutterstockImage caption, Tom Cleverley has guided Plymouth Argyle to the summit of Legaue One

Tom Cleverley says Plymouth Argyle's last-gasp win over AFC Wimbledon is one of the best feelings he had has since retiring from playing.

Xavier Amaechi's goal in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time ensured a 2-1 victory at Home Park and kept Argyle top of League One.

It was the Pilgrims' fifth win in six games as they opened up a two-point lead over Bradford City, who have a game in hand, after the Bantams drew 0-0 with Leyton Orient.

"I'm struggling to find a better feeling since I've retired than that one," said the former England, Manchester United, Everton and Watford midfielder.

"It's the moments we work for in football.

"It's really difficult to replicate the feeling that the players get when a goal goes in, but that was right up there.

"It wasn't our prettiest performance, there's a lot of work that we need to do next week approaching the Huddersfield game to make sure we're better from a performance.

"But I think the players are such a hard-working group and sometimes you get repaid with a little bit of luck."

Despite not playing to the level Cleverley had hoped for, he was pleased with the number of chances his side created.

"Credit to the players, they've somehow managed to fashion 18 chances on their goal, some big ones at that," he added.

"We need to work on our finishing aspect as well, but I'd be more concerned if it was six or seven shots and we were looking quite ineffective from an attacking perspective.

"The winning goal represents the performance, a little bit scruffy, but got the job done."

Image source, ShutterstockImage caption, Bim Pepple was forced to watch Saturday's game from the stands

Argyle were without top scorer Bim Pepple for the game.

The 23-year-old Canadian, who has scored goals in his last seven appearances, was ruled out with a hamstring issue he felt on Thursday morning.

Cleverly is hopeful they have dealt with the problem early and he will not miss any more action.

"We sort of gave him a little bit of a test at the training ground, which wasn't conclusive, so we sent him for a scan, which has shown just a tiny little bit of something in his hamstrings," he said.

"He's had a couple of these since he's been at the club and they've cleared up in five to 10 days, so we expect him to be training with the group Thursday and ready for next Saturday."