‘TRIUMPHANT’: After Plymouth Argyle defeated Swansea City, Ian Foster expressed his “true pride” in the players.

After Morgan Whittaker’s 17th goal of the year gave Plymouth Argyle their first five-game winning streak under head coach Ian Foster, the team defeated Swansea City 1-0 on the road in the Championship.

Despite his brief stint at the club, Foster acknowledged the significance of the Pilgrims’ first Championship victory on the road at their fifteenth attempt. Even though Whittaker scored the game-winning goal, the team in southwest Wales managed to clinch three crucial points with a strong defensive performance and some outstanding saves from starting keeper Conor Hazard.

Since Foster took over, Argyle has played three away games. They had previously drawn 1-1 with Leeds United in the FA Cup fourth round and Huddersfield Town in the league.

Foster said: “In my short time at the football club we have had to find a way of winning on the road, and sometimes you have to make certain sacrifices in order to do that.

“Our challenge and my challenge is to maintain the attacking threat that we have, but from a really solid defensive structure, and that was probably a perfect performance for us today in terms of doing that. A clean sheet on the road.

“Of course, I think at times we have to get better with the ball but we have to start somewhere, we have to get points on the board. As a head coach coming to a football club you always want to tick the firsts off, if you like.

“So winning your first home game, winning your first home game in the league. We hadn’t won away from home all season, which isn’t good enough, so we wanted to tick that off as well. In terms of the performance, the players did everything I asked of them and I’m really proud of them.”

Whittaker had one early shot deflected wide for a corner and had another attempt tipped over the bar by Carl Rushworth before he fired low into the net after Argyle came up with a cleverly-worked short corner.

“That’s Morgan, he can be devastating. He’s doing a terrific job for us without the ball which a lot of people perhaps haven’t recognised, and he’s still maintaining that attacking threat, which is great.

“My job is to make him more complete so people can’t say ‘He doesn’t do this and he doesn’t do that’. He’s a wonderfully gifted footballer, we know, but he’s proving as well now that as captain of the football club he can do the dirty side of it as well.”

Whittaker had been at the centre of speculation about his future throughout the transfer window and Argyle rejected an offer for him from Italian club Lazio last Tuesday, but the talented 23-year-old has not been distracted by all the talk.

He has now scored nine goals in the last 10 games, and will remain a vital player for Argyle as they look to pick up the points they need to secure their Championship status.`

Foster said: “I think the board have been brilliant, I think they have been really brave. They have been quite open and transparent throughout the entire window in that he’s not a player we want to sell.

“More importantly, it’s a player who doesn’t want to leave. It’s rare sometimes in football you get players who are just really happy and content in terms of where they live, who they play football with, who they work with, who they represent.

“Him and his family are loving life at the moment so they are not in a rush to go anywhere. That’s lovely as well. I think that’s a testament to the football club.”

Foster added: “I took him and his partner for breakfast on Wednesday morning, the day after the club turned down the bid from Lazio, just to see how he was, and see what we could do to help him and keep him focused on his game. It’s my job to continue to develop him into the player that we all hope he can be.”