Wayne Rooney insisted he can steer Plymouth off the foot of the Championship after watching his side surrender the lead three times in the a helter-skelter second half at Home Park.
The Plymouth manager was bullish about the future even though the pressure intensified three times on him as his sequence of games without a win was extended to seven in a humdinger of a game.
The former England skipper watched on in despair as goals from skipper Lewis Gibson, Drako Gyabi and Mustapha Bundu were cancelled out by Jonny Howson, Hayden Hackney and substitute Emmanuel Latte Lath.
While the result is bound to increase the uncertainty over his position at Home Park, Rooney is confident he has what it takes to inspire an uplift in fortunes. ‘It’s very tight down there and there’s quite a few teams in what is a mini league,’ Rooney said.
‘We’re bottom of the league but if we keep performing like we have been doing over the last three games I’m certain we will win games soon.
‘I’ve no problem with that because it’s a strange league but it’s not where we want to be. My focus is going to be on making sure we’re not in that bottom three come he end of he season and we know one game can change that.’
Reflecting on the result 39-year-old added that he was frustrated that his team were not able to secure all three points.
‘It’s frustrating. Reflecting on the game I thought first half we were excellent, both in possession and out of possession,’ he told BBC Radio Devon.
‘I’m a little bit disappointed we didn’t do better for two of the three goals, I think we were a bit naive.’
After a shaky start, Argyle dominated the first half and deservedly took the lead on 38 minutes.
Midfielder Rami Al Hajj played the ball wide to Brendan Galloway whose cross was headed in by defender Gibson for his first goal in Plymouth colours.
The lead could have been doubled before the break but Sol Brynn pulled off an excellent point-blank save to foil Bundu.
Rooney would have known he could bank on Boro manager Michael Carrick to inspire the Teessiders to better things after the break and so it proved.
Whatever the former Manchester United colleague said worked and Argyle’s lead was erased on 50 minutes as Boro improved.
Liverpool loanee winger Ben Doak’s cross was only half-cleared and Howson’s 20-yard shot left Daniel Grimshaw stranded after being deflected in off Hardie.
Rooney’s side rallied and regained the lead on 72 minutes when Mumba combined with Bundu whose cross was finished in style by Gyabi from close range.
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Back came Boro and Hackney equalised on 77 minutes when he thumped the ball home after Grimshaw kept out his low shot.
Argyle hit back on 82 minutes when Bundu bundled in Nathanael Ogbeta’s cross to send Home Park into raptures.
Boro were not to be denied and the unmarked Latte Lath volleyed the equaliser on 84 minutes following Rav Van Den Berg’s header to leave Rooney grimacing.
Carrick added: ‘I can’t say I’m frustrated because we didn’t do enough without the ball defensively to deserve anything better.
‘Our attacking play was decent but we can’t concede goals of that nature three times away from home and expect to come back with more than a draw.’
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