Plymouth’s Steven Schumacher hails ‘outstanding character’ in Middlesbrough draw

Steven Schumacher praised the “outstanding” character of his Plymouth side as they fought back to draw 3-3 with Middlesbrough at Home Park.

Goals from Bali Mumba, Finn Azaz and Morgan Whittaker cancelled out efforts from Boro striker Josh Coburn (2) and Sam Greenwood.

The Argyle boss said: “If we play as well as we do then we’ve got to get points, so I’m pleased that we got a point today.”

“I thought it was a great game, two good teams who obviously like to attack.

“There were moments of quality and passages of good play from both sides.

“I felt we were really good first half. Even though we fell behind I thought we were playing well and probably deserved to go in ahead.

“Second half they came out and we couldn’t get the ball off them for 15 minutes and they’ve shown their quality and got themselves ahead.

“So, it was a really tough game, end to end, but the character of our players was outstanding and I’m really pleased to get something from the game because overall I would say a draw was a fair result.

“Since I have been in charge we have always said ‘try and be positive and get on the front foot’ and ‘try and enjoy the game and be exciting’.

“I know at times that can leave us open and I know at times we can defend better and make less errors.

“But we have also got to remember the players we have got and not many of them have played at this level, so they haven’t got the experience that Middlesbrough have got or loads of other Championship teams.

“We are getting better and we can only learn and develop, so that’s what I want them to do, what I believe and hopefully what our fans like to see.”

Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick said: “We did enough to win the game. A lot of the performance was good, we didn’t give them an awful lot and what we did give them they punished us for.

“We were terrific in the second half and they had a free-kick that came from nowhere go in at the back post and it is what it is.

“We didn’t start particularly well but we looked dangerous and got the goal and put ourselves in a good position.

“We had a few minutes where we let them into the spaces we knew they wanted to be in and that was frustrating.

“Then the second half I thought we were terrific. The free-kick going in changed the last 10 minutes, so it is a bit frustrating.

“We appreciate all the effort the fans have gone to this week and to add the Norwich one on the back of that a week before, it’s an incredible two weeks of travelling and effort from them.

“We have given them a couple of wins, but this one we felt like we did enough.

“They have seen goals, application and effort from the boys, so there was enough to celebrate and it was nice to spend a few moments with them at the end and show them how much we appreciate them.”