PLYMOUTH Argyle head coach Miron Muslic has told his players to keep a ‘cool mind’ as they continue their quest to pull clear of the relegation drop zone in the Sky Bet Championship.

Having secured back-to-back victories against West Bromwich Albion and Millwall, plus an epic FA Cup giant-killing of Liverpool, Argyle saw their winning run come to an end as Blackburn Rovers defeated them 2-0 at Ewood Park on Saturday.

Adam Forshaw’s first goal for nearly nine years set Rovers on their way. The midfielder, signed from the Pilgrims last month, had not found the net since he scored for Middlesbrough against Reading in April 2016, but his timing was perfect to maintain his side’s push for a place-off place. Tyrhys Dolan made sure of the points when he netted late on.

“A deserved victory for Blackburn,” said Muslic. “I think they started very strong the first 10-15 minutes, wave after wave, but after that we found our structure, our organisation and we kept them out. The second half was more or less the same. Blackburn opened up the game with a beautiful goal and, from there on, it was difficult for us to bounce back.”

Argyle’s cause was not helped with the early loss of in-form striker Ryan Hardie, who had to be withdrawn after just 19 minutes due to a back issue.

“It’s a little step back, but nobody was expecting to ride from win to win after every three days,” added Muslic. “We are in a better place than we were a couple of weeks ago. We are competitive right now and we have closed the gap, a lot of teams are involved in this scenario. I think six or seven of them at least. It’s just up to us to keep a cool mind and then we will collect the points we need to stay up.”