Wayne Rooney reveals nine-word message to Plymouth stars that inspired stunning comeback from being 3-0 down
WAYNE ROONEY revealed his nine-word message that inspired Plymouth to their stunning comeback.
Rooney saw his Pilgrims fall 2-0 behind at home to Preston in the first half on Saturday.
Then things got even worse when North End grabbed a third three minutes after half-time.
But Plymouth came roaring back.
They got their first on 55 minutes and equalised in the 82nd minute.
Then Home Park erupted in the second minute of injury time when Morgan Whittaker fired into the back of the net.
He appeared to hobble off during his celebration but the home fans didn’t care as they celebrated a simply incredible effort from their team.
And Rooney revealed his half-time rocket was enough of a threat to fire his stars into action – but not until they conceded the third.
He said: “I told them you’ve got five minutes otherwise I’m making five changes.
“And then we went three goals down.”
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But despite the impressive fighting spirit, Rooney was still not happy with what he saw.
He added to Sky Sports: “I am angry because that performance is nowhere near good enough. We were easy to play against. Obviously I am pleased we drew the game but I can’t accept that performance.
“I am frustrated but even at 3-0 you can turn a game and I tried to get more attackers into the box, but we didn’t do that at first.
“The last three games we have hit a bit of a blip but we need to get out of it. The one thing I never question with the players is their character. We need to learn the little nuances of the game.
“It could have been worse if it wasn’t for Dan (Grimshaw, goalkeeper). I felt for him today because of how easy it was for them to get through us and get shots off. It was schoolboy defending really.
“I think the fans had every right to boo at half-time but then when they saw us pushing and making changes and getting more balls in the box you could feel the atmosphere growing. I was delighted for them we got a point.”
Plymouth sit 21st in the Championship table, one point and one place above the relegation zone with three wins and three draws from 12 matches.
Their last victory came when Whittaker again struck in injury time to grab a last-gasp winner against Blackburn – after Rooney had already been sent off.