Plymouth Argyle manager Steven Schumacher revealed how his side turned their 3-0 deficit around against AFC Wimbledon to win 4-3 on penalties in the EFL Trophy. 

It looked like it would be a bad night at the office for Plymouth as they went into 3-0 at the hands of League Two side AFC Wimbledon in the EFL Trophy.

The Pilgrims were all over the place defensively and on course to exit the competition when Ayoub Assal put the League Two visitors 3-0 up in added time at the end of the first period after Kyle Hudlin had already scored twice.

However, a triple change at half time seemed to turn their fortunes around as Adam Randell and Morgan Whittaker came on for teenage duo Brandon Pursall and Caleb Roberts, with Dan Scarr also replacing Nigel Lonwijk.

There was also a switch to a four man defence which got the best out of Matt Butcher and Jack Endacott allowing Plymouth to push on and score three in the second half.

Speaking to Plymouth Live, Schumacher discussed the big decision: "We just felt we needed to get Adam [Randell] in there and give us a bit more energy in midfield and drive us forward.

"Playing Butch [Matt Butcher] at left-back is a bit more adventurous than Brandon [Pursall] because we needed to go forward. Him and Jack [Endacott] did really well second half down that left side.

"And then Morgan [Whittaker] comes on the pitch and no disrespect to Caleb Roberts but he's an established player. Morgan was great when he came on. We kept getting him the ball and he created chances for us.

"We just said to the players at half-time we had nothing to lose and we might as well be positive, and try and go forward as much as we could."

It was an important result for Plymouth as they've won just once in this last five league games with Schumacher no doubt hoping to take that positive outcome into their next game on boxing day against Cheltenham.

The Verdict

It was an important result for Plymouth as they've looked vulnerable for several weeks now.

Whilst they conceded goals, they still showed plenty of positives and some of the Plymouth many have been used to seeing this season.

This result and second half performance should act as a springboard as Schumacher will no doubt look toward rebuilding his side's automatic promotion chances.